India-EU trade meeting, China's tit-for-tat tariffs, Japan wage deal
Welcome to Your Week in Asia.
India and the European Union hold trade talks in Brussels this week in a bid to seal a deal that has so far eluded them over multiple rounds of meetings, while Japan's biggest labor group looks to win the largest wage increases for its members in three decades.
China is set to slap retaliatory tariffs on a range of American agricultural products, Philippine conglomerate Ayala Corp. reports its latest financial results and Vietnam hosts a chip and AI conference.
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This is an adapted version of Nikkei Asia’s Your Week in Asia newsletter - a briefing of the most important business, economic and political events happening across Asia this week. Register to our full selection of newsletters.
MONDAY
China's retaliatory tariffs
China's 10%-15% tariffs take effect on a host of U.S. agricultural products, from soybeans and pork to corn and chicken. Beijing announced the retaliation just as U.S. President Donald Trump's extra 10% blanket tariff on Chinese goods kicked in, on top of previous levies, ramping up the trade war between the world's two largest economies. Separately, Trump's additional 25% global tariffs on steel and aluminum are due to start on Wednesday.
India-EU trade talks
India and the European Union hold the next round of talks on a trade agreement in Brussels from Monday to Friday as the two sides aim to conclude an ambitious deal by the end of this year, amid rising geopolitical tensions and Trump's tariff threats. The pair relaunched negotiations in June 2022 after a deal failed to materialize despite 16 rounds of talks between 2007 and 2013.
TUESDAY
'Two Sessions' wraps up
China's annual "Two Sessions" draws to a close with the end of the National People's Congress legislative gathering. The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body, finishes on Monday. The leadership once again set an economic growth target of "around 5%" and sought to demonstrate a commitment to shoring up domestic demand, while acknowledging the "severe external environment" as tensions with Washington grow.
Fukushima disaster anniversary
Memorial ceremonies across Japan will mark 14 years since eastern Japan was battered by the country's biggest recorded earthquake. It unleashed a tsunami high enough to swallow three-story buildings and sparked one of the world's worst nuclear disasters. Over 19,000 lives were lost while 2,000 people are still missing. About 470,000 people were forced to find new homes.
WEDNESDAY
Indonesia's GoTo reports
Indonesian ride-hailing and delivery service GoTo Group posts its 2024 earnings as it eyes reaching profitability. It has been narrowing its losses, however, by cutting incentive and product marketing spending. The company has forecast it will break even this year on an adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) basis.
Vietnam tech conference
Hanoi and Danang take turns hosting the AI-Semiconductor Conference. Joined by Vietnam's prime minister, company officials from Google DeepMind, IBM, Intel, TSMC and Samsung Electronics are expected to attend the event, which aims to promote Vietnam as a destination for chip and AI investment.
FRIDAY
Japan's wage talks
Rengo, Japan's largest labor confederation, is expected to release results from the first tabulation of this year's spring wage negotiations. Rengo-affiliated unions have called for an average wage hike of 6.09% this year, surpassing 6% for the first time since the early 1990s.
Ayala Corp. posts earnings
Philippine conglomerate Ayala Corp. reports its full-year earnings, leveraging a diversified portfolio spanning banking, real estate, telecommunications and renewable energy. The latest figures come after Ayala reported 19% growth in core net income in the first nine months of 2024.
Earnings: Hon Hai Precision, CATL
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Supply Chain Executive at Retired Life
7 小时前Glossary of Tariff Terms – Cheat Sheet. https://www.supplychaintoday.com/glossary-of-tariff-terms/