Mattel, home of Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels, is cutting 2,200 jobs in order to save money after the closing of U.S. toy retail giant Toys R Us. The toymaker said the cuts amount to 22 percent of its nonmanufacturing employees worldwide. Mattel has about 28,000 employees. It also plans …
Mexican and Canadian officials are stressing that talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement will remain a three-way negotiation, despite suggestions by U.S. President Donald Trump that he might pursue separate trade deals with both countries. Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray says “Canada and Mexico not only share geography, …
Leaders from the five BRICS nations sounded the alarm over what South Africa’s president described as recent threats to multilateralism and sustainable global growth — a not-so-coded reference to a brewing trade war between the U.S. and BRICS’ wealthiest member, China. Chinese President Xi Jinping raised his concerns as the …
Sergio Marchionne, a charismatic and demanding leader who engineered two long-shot corporate turnarounds to save both Fiat and Chrysler from near-certain failure, died Wednesday. He was 66. The holding company of Fiat’s founders, the Agnelli family, announced in a statement Marchionne’s death after complications from surgery in Zurich. “Unfortunately …
Tariffs are set to top the agenda in a meeting Wednesday between U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Juncker is coming to Washington with the hopes the European Union can avoid an all-out trade war by convincing Trump to hold off punitive tariffs on European cars. …
Qian Zhiya may be Starbucks’ worst nightmare. The 42-year-old Chinese entrepreneur says she is betting that her fledgling Luckin Coffee brand will eventually have more cafes in China than Starbucks, and she has Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund and other investors bankrolling her plan. Luckin, which only officially launched in January, …
Harley-Davidson executives said Tuesday they had seen no U.S. sales hit so far over its decision to relocate some American manufacturing overseas as it navigates amid trade conflicts. “We’ve actually done quite a lot of consumer research… and we see no discernible shift in the sales patterns” or to brand …
The International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday there are few indications international trade imbalances are narrowing, a trend that could raise trade tensions and lower economic growth. In its annual External Sector Report, the IMF also said almost half of the world’s current-account balances are excessive and that current-account surpluses and …
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders of the BRICS emerging economies are gathering in South Africa for a summit likely to feature criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump’s wave of tariffs on foreign goods. The tariffs, and tit-for-tat taxes by U.S. trading partners, are fueling …
Checking out a speedboat, a fighter jet and a giant industrial magnet parked on the White House driveway, President Donald Trump showcased an array of “Made in America” products Monday as his administration pushes back aggressively against critics who say his punishing tariffs on imported goods threaten to harm the …
International investors are looking to Tuesday’s meeting of the Turkish central bank as a critical test of whether the bank can remain independent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his increasing powers, and what some criticize as his Islamist agenda. The Turkish currency has fallen sharply as concerns mount on whether …
“Heightened trade and geopolitical tensions” are putting global economic growth at risk, G-20 finance ministers said after two days of meetings in Buenos Aires on Sunday. In their final communique, the Group of 20 ministers stressed the need to “step up dialogue and actions to mitigate risks and enhance confidence.” …
Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans to leave the European Union are overwhelmingly opposed by the British public and more than a third of voters would support a new right-wing political party committed to quitting the bloc, according to a new poll. May’s political vulnerability was exposed by the survey which …
German industry groups warned Sunday, ahead of a meeting between European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and U.S. President Donald Trump, that tariffs the United States has recently imposed or threatened risk harming the U.S. itself. The U.S. imposed tariffs on EU steel and aluminum June 1, and Trump is threatening …
Fiat Chrysler named on Saturday its Jeep division boss, Mike Manley, to take over immediately for Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne, who is seriously ill after suffering major complications following surgery. The carmaker said British-born Manley, who also takes responsibility for the North America region, will push ahead with the midterm …
The International Monetary Fund warned world economic leaders on Saturday that a recent wave of trade tariffs would significantly harm global growth, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a major escalation in a dispute with China. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she would present the G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in …
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday backed President Hassan Rouhani’s suggestion that Iran may block Gulf oil exports if its own exports are stopped and said negotiations with the United States would be an “obvious mistake.” Rouhani’s apparent threat earlier this month to disrupt oil shipments from neighboring …
U.S. Republican lawmakers have dropped their efforts to reimpose a crippling ban on exports to the Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE. The move Friday gives a victory to U.S. President Donald Trump who has championed for ZTE to stay in business. Republican senators Friday dropped legislation that would block ZTE from …
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday dug in on his criticism of the Federal Reserve’s policy on raising interest rates, saying it takes away from the United States’ “big competitive edge,” and lamented the strength of the U.S. dollar. Trump, in posts on Twitter, also accused the European Union and …
President Donald Trump has indicated that he’s willing to hit every product imported from China with tariffs, sending U.S. markets sliding before the opening bell Friday. In a taped interview with the business channel CNBC, Trump said “I’m willing to go to 500,” referring roughly to the $505.5 billion …
Chinese policymakers are pumping more liquidity into the financial system and channeling credit to small- and medium-sized firms, and Beijing looks set to further loosen monetary conditions to mitigate threats to growth from a heated Sino-U.S. trade war. The world’s second-biggest economy has started to lose momentum this year as …
The Trump administration wants to scrap automatic federal protection for threatened plants and animals, a move that would anger environmentalists but please industry. A proposal unveiled Thursday would no longer grant threatened species the same instant protection given to endangered species. It would also limit what can be declared a …
The financial leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies meet in Buenos Aires this weekend for the first time since long-simmering trade tensions burst into the open when China and the United States put tariffs on $34 billion of each other’s goods. The United States will seek to persuade Japan and the European Union to …
Grinding poverty and climate change are pushing communities in West Africa’s Sahel region into the arms of extremist groups like Boko Haram, but providing people with clean energy could help slow that trend, said a top international official. Rachel Kyte, CEO of Sustainable Energy for All, set up by the United Nations, learned …
Vivendi’s Universal Music Group (UMG) will launch a new division in Nigeria as part of efforts by the world’s largest music label to expand into Africa’s most populous nation and the wider region. The music entertainment group said on Tuesday its new strategic division, Universal Music Nigeria, will operate from …
A former official at a Venezuelan state-run electric company pleaded guilty on Monday to U.S. charges that he participated in a scheme to solicit bribes in exchange for helping vendors win favorable treatment from state oil company PDVSA. Luis Carlos De Leon Perez, 42, pleaded guilty in federal court in …