China has sharply criticised Donald Trump’s demand for an investigation into whether it is improperly obtaining foreign technology and said it will “resolutely safeguard” Beijing’s interests.
Theresa May is pushing a £30 billion trade deal agenda as she visits the Gulf.
A proposed tariff of 1.65% on some Chinese steel products brought into Europe has been slammed as a “slap in the face” for the crisis-hit UK industry. The European Commission published the provisional figure after a nine-month investigation into imports of reinforced steel bar.
RenewableUK has appointed a new chief executive to lead the trade association. Hugh McNeal will take up the role in April after previously working as a civil servant for a substantial part of his career.
Britain’s trade deficit narrowed to £3.2 billion in November, as plunging oil prices cut the cost of imports. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the total trade deficit for goods and services fell from £3.5 billion in October. It added that the deficit for goods alone also narrowed to £10.6 billion in November from £11.2 billion the month before.
Russia’s government plans to spend $275million as it looks to support its car industry in the first half of 2016. Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said the government was looking to extend measures in place since car sales were hit by a sharp drop in the rouble and an economic slowdown.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) is set to takeover America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA). The move could see the groups become a stronger powerhouse after approval was granted by both board of directors. It means the two groups will combine into a single trade association, beginning next year.
David Cameron will host talks with Xi Jinping at Downing Street as he seeks to cement multi-billion trade deals during the Chinese president’s four-day state visit to the UK. Investment by Beijing in Britain’s first UK nuclear power plant in a generation is expected to be confirmed as part of what the Government hopes will amount altogether to £30 billion of agreements. But the lavish welcome given to the president was attacked as a “national humiliation” by a former close adviser to the Prime Minister, who is under pressure to raise concerns about human rights and “dumped” cheap steel blamed for the loss of thousands of British jobs.
Energy Minister Fergus Ewing will champion Scotland’s trouble-hit offshore industry on a trade mission to the heart of the US oil and gas sector this week. There are still “huge opportunities” despite significant challenges, he said as he prepared for his trip to Houston to meet key figures from a number of companies. The visit comes at a time when the industry globally has been hit by a slump in oil prices.
Britain’s trade deficit narrowed by more than expected in October after the falling price of oil helped to trigger a drop in the value of imports. The deficit in goods and services narrowed to a seven-month low of £2 billion from £2.8 billion in September and better than City forecasts for £2.4 billion. The improvement in the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was largely driven by a fall in the value of oil imports following the recent drop in the price of Brent crude to well below 100 US dollars a barrel.
