2025-08-29 23:51

Putin says Russia, China oppose "discriminatory" trade sanctions Putin to visit China August 31 to September 3 for regional summit, military parade China is Russia's biggest trading partner BEIJING, Aug 30 (Reuters) - On the eve of a visit to China, Russian leader Vladimir Putin blasted Western sanctions as his country's economy teetered on the brink of recession, wounded by trade curbs and the cost of his war in Ukraine. Russia and China jointly opposed "discriminatory" sanctions in global trade, Putin said in a written interview with China's official Xinhua news agency published on Saturday. Sign up here. Putin will be in China, Russia's biggest trading partner, from Sunday to Wednesday in a four-day visit that the Kremlin has called "unprecedented." The Russian leader will first attend the two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin. The security-focused SCO, founded by a group of Eurasian nations in 2001, has expanded to 10 permanent members that now include Iran and India. Putin will then travel to Beijing to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and attend a massive military parade in the Chinese capital commemorating the end of World War Two after Japan's formal surrender. Earlier in May, Xi attended a military parade on Moscow's Red Square marking the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazi Germany. It was Xi's 11th visit to China's giant neighbour since he became president more than a decade ago. Russia has been hammered by multiple rounds of Western sanctions after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. U.S. President Donald Trump said he might impose "massive" sanctions on Russia depending on whether progress was possible in his bid to secure a peace deal. "To sum up, economic cooperation, trade and industrial collaboration between our countries are advancing across multiple areas," Putin said of China, which the West accuses of backing Russia's so-called special military operation in Ukraine. "During my upcoming visit, we will certainly discuss further prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation and new steps to intensify it for the benefit of the peoples of Russia and China." When Western nations severed ties with Russia after Moscow's launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, China came to the rescue, buying Russian oil and selling goods from cars to electronics that pushed bilateral trade to a record $245 billion in 2024. China was by far Russia's leading trading partner by volume and transactions between the countries were almost completely carried out in rubles and yuan, Putin said. Russia was a leading exporter of oil and gas to China and the two sides continued joint efforts to reduce bilateral trade barriers, he added. "In recent years, the export of pork and beef to China has been launched. Overall, agricultural and food products occupy a prominent place in Russia's exports to China," he said. He made no mention of EU accusations of Chinese support for Russia's war in Ukraine, which the bloc describes as a serious threat to European security. China denies the allegations. Putin and Xi declared a "no limits" strategic partnership in 2022. The two have met over 40 times in the past decade. Wanted by the International Criminal Court over accusations of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine, Putin last travelled in China in 2024. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/putin-lambasts-trade-sanctions-eve-visit-china-2025-08-29/

2025-08-29 23:32

SAN SALVADOR, Aug 29 (Reuters) - El Salvador, the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender, will move its reserves of the popular cryptocurrency to multiple new addresses from the single address it previously used in order to improve security, it said on Friday. The country's National Bitcoin Office said on X each address would hold up to 500 Bitcoin (around $54 million as of recent prices), and that a public dashboard would make the full balance across these addresses transparent to the public. Sign up here. The Central American nation has for years been consolidating its Bitcoin position. As of Friday, it held around $682 million worth in the volatile cryptocurrency. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-transfer-bitcoin-reserves-multiple-addresses-2025-08-29/

2025-08-29 22:36

WASHINGTON, Aug 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Friday that there had been an IT breach at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the American disaster response agency that has been buffeted by deep cuts and is slated for elimination. Noem's statement gave few specifics about the nature of the breach except to blame FEMA's staff, two dozen of whom she said she had fired. Sign up here. Noem said the hack threatened "the entire Department and the nation as a whole" but at the same time said that "no American citizens were directly impacted." She added: "No sensitive data was extracted from any DHS networks." DHS did not immediately respond to a message seeking further clarity on what happened. Noem devoted nine paragraphs of her statement about the breach to attacks on FEMA's IT staff, accusing them of "failure," "neglect," "incompetence" and dishonesty. She said 23 of them had been fired. Reuters could not immediately verify her claims. News of the FEMA breach - and the mass firing purportedly connected to it - follows an open letter , opens new tab of dissent against the agency's leadership signed by scores of current and former FEMA employees. The letter warned Congress that the inexperience of top appointees of President Donald Trump's administration could lead to a catastrophe on the level of Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged the Gulf Coast of the United States 20 years ago. Trump has said he wants to eliminate FEMA, a linchpin of the United States' disaster response, and instead distribute federal money through his own office. FEMA has extended a hiring freeze through at least the end of this year, according to three sources familiar with the matter, as the peak of hurricane season approaches. The Department of Homeland Security "is committed to ensuring FEMA delivers for the American people," a FEMA spokesperson said in a statement on Friday. The spokesperson did not respond to a question about the hiring freeze. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-homeland-security-chief-reports-breach-fema-fires-23-employees-2025-08-29/

2025-08-29 22:18

BRASILIA, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Brazil's 2026 annual budget bill, submitted to Congress on Friday, projects a primary surplus of 34.5 billion reais ($6.36 billion) for the central government, equivalent to 0.25% of the country's gross domestic product. The forecast meets the 0.25% of GDP primary surplus target for next year proposed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government in April, still pending congressional approval. Sign up here. The calculation, however, excludes 57.8 billion reais in expenses not counted toward the fiscal target, notably linked to court-ordered payments. Without this adjustment, the projection would show a primary deficit of 23.3 billion reais, equivalent to a 0.17% of GDP shortfall. Many economists have criticized the exclusion of large expenditures from Brazil's calculation of its primary balance, saying it masks the true fiscal picture even though the practice is legal. While the government may hit its targets on paper, the exemptions still drive spending and add to the hefty debt of Latin America's largest economy. The Treasury estimated in July that gross debt as a share of GDP - a key fiscal indicator - will have risen more than 10 percentage points under Lula, who took office in 2023. The leftist leader introduced a new fiscal framework with a more flexible spending-growth rule alongside primary budget targets. Initially, his economic team projected a primary surplus equivalent to 0.5% of GDP for this year, followed by 1% of GDP surplus by the end of his mandate in 2026. However, the fast-growing cost of pensions and social benefits, reluctance to pursue deeper spending cuts and challenges in raising new revenue led the government to abandon its original plan last year in favor of a more gradual fiscal adjustment. ($1 = 5.42 reais) https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-2026-budget-bill-projects-primary-surplus-025-gdp-2025-08-29/

2025-08-29 22:10

Banxico raises 2023 growth forecast to 0.6% from 0.1% Core inflation forecast increased to 3.7% for Q4 2025 Economic weakness was a factor behind this month's rate cut MEXICO CITY, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Mexico's economy is performing better than expected, the Bank of Mexico said on Friday in its quarterly report, while increasing its growth forecast for the rest of the year for Latin America's second largest economy. The report offered a positive, if mixed, assessment: Mexico's economy is showing resilience in the face of an uncertain business environment and on-again, off-again tariffs from the U.S., Mexico's largest trade partner. Sign up here. But Banxico, as Mexico's central bank is known, said economic growth remains sluggish and it projected higher rates of inflation for the rest of the year compared with its previous estimate. It said the economic effects of U.S. tariffs may take more time to become clear. "The Mexican economy has performed better than the external environment would suggest and could continue performing better than anticipated as long as the adverse effects of change in U.S. economy policy take time to materialize," the bank's quarterly report said. Banxico raised its forecast for economic growth this year to 0.6% from its previous estimate of 0.1%. The central bank also increased its outlook for economic growth in 2026 to 1.1% from a prior estimate of 0.9%. "The Mexican economy grew more than expected," Central Bank Governor Victoria Rodriguez said during a presentation of the report. But the bank also highlighted an increase in the price of goods. It now expects annual headline inflation in the fourth quarter to reach 3.7%, versus a prior forecast of 3.3%. Even so, the bank maintained its estimate that headline inflation will converge to its 3% target in the third quarter of 2026. The forecast for annual core inflation, which excludes some volatile goods and is considered a more reliable indicator, was revised upwards to 3.7% for the fourth quarter of 2025, compared with the bank's earlier forecast of 3.4%. Banxico cited the economy's weakness as a factor when it cut its benchmark interest rate earlier this month to 7.75%, bringing the rate to its lowest level in three years. Central banks often cut interest rates to stimulate the economy, although that can also fuel inflation. Deputy Governor Jonathan Heath, who was the only member of the five-member board to vote against lowering the interest rate and cited persistent inflation, again raised concerns during Friday's presentation, singling out higher food prices at taco stands and restaurants. But he said Mexico's economy clearly needs to grow more, saying it's between "lethargy and stagnation." https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexicos-central-bank-hikes-economic-forecast-growth-remains-sluggish-2025-08-29/

2025-08-29 21:56

Removal of tariff exemption to disrupt e-commerce, raise costs, analysts say Customs agency collecting duties on all global parcel imports Many postal services suspended shipments of parcels to US Disruptions similar to February's not yet seen, logistics expert says WASHINGTON, Aug 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. ended tariff exemptions for parcel imports on Friday without the logistical hiccups that dogged prior attempts, while consumers, e-commerce companies and small businesses using online marketplaces braced for cost increases and supply chain disruptions. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency began collecting normal duty rates on all package shipments valued under $800, regardless of value, country of origin, or mode of transportation. Sign up here. For the first six months, importers can opt to pay a flat-rate duty of $80 to $200 per package shipped from foreign postal agencies. The change broadens the Trump administration's cancellation of the de minimis exemption, already in place for packages from China and Hong Kong since May as part of an effort to halt shipments of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals into the U.S. The customs agency's commissioner, Rodney Scott, said it was ready to enforce the new duty requirements. "For too long, this loophole handed criminal networks a free pass to flood America with fentanyl, fake goods, and illegal shipments. Those days are over." Trump administration officials said the change could boost U.S. customs revenues by $10 billion annually. The de minimis exemption has been in place since 1938, starting at $5 for gift imports, and was raised from $200 to $800 in 2015 to foster small business growth on e-commerce marketplaces. Direct shipments from China surged after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods during his first term, creating a new direct-to-consumer business model for e-commerce firms such as Shein and Temu (PDD.O) , opens new tab. The National Coalition of Textile Organizations hailed a "historic win" for U.S. manufacturing following the closing of a loophole that allowed foreign fast-fashion firms to avoid tariffs and import apparel sometimes made with forced labor, undercutting American jobs. "The administration's executive action closes this channel and delivers long overdue relief to the U.S. textile industry and its workers," the group said. The customs agency has estimated that the number of packages claiming the de minimis exemption jumped nearly 10-fold , opens new tab from 139 million in fiscal 2015 to 1.36 billion in fiscal 2024 - a rate of 4 million per day. More than 25 foreign postal services suspended mail to the U.S. in the run-up to the de minimis deadline, helping the U.S. to avoid a repeat of the chaotic package pile-up that forced the Trump administration to pull back on its first attempt at ending the de minimis exemption for China in February. "I'm not hearing of any huge slowdowns at any of the ports right now, but it's still early," said Bernard Hart, vice president of customs and trade at logistics provider Flexport. "We do believe that industry had enough time to react to this and to move inventory around." The customs agency said 95% of all de minimis shipments are handled by general cargo carriers or express shippers such as FedEx (FDX.N) , opens new tab, UPS (UPS.N) , opens new tab and DHL (DHLn.DE) , opens new tab, which had already adapted to the China changes. Britain's Royal Mail resumed shipments on Thursday. European postal groups including Germany's DHL and Norway's Posten Bring on Friday were seeking ways to handle the new fees and extra paperwork after suspending certain shipments. HIGHER COSTS, MORE PAPERWORK Retail and trade analysts say the end of de minimis is likely to raise prices for many goods sold through e-commerce companies, as those that previously avoided tariffs because of the exemption become subject to duties. This may put such firms on a par with costs for more established retailers like Walmart (WMT.N) , opens new tab that tend to import merchandise in bulk containers that are subject to tariffs. It is also likely to curb trade on peer-to-peer platforms such as eBay (EBAY.O) , opens new tab and Etsy (ETSY.O) , opens new tab, which are used by small businesses to sell secondhand, vintage or handmade items. The customs agency has collected more than $492 million in additional duties on packages shipped from China and Hong Kong since their exemptions were eliminated on May 2, another Trump administration official said. Foreign postal agencies can opt to collect and process the duties based on the value of the package contents, or they can collect a flat tax calculated from the tariff rate in effect for the country of origin. Based on the agency's guidance , opens new tab issued on Thursday, parcels would be charged $80 from countries with Trump-imposed duty rates below 16%, such as Britain and the European Union; $160 from countries between 16% and 25%, such as Indonesia and Vietnam; and, $200 from countries above 25%, including Brazil, Canada, China and India. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-tariff-exemption-low-value-packages-ends-with-few-hiccups-higher-costs-loom-2025-08-29/