Russia and Iran cooperate to produce electronic equipment, President Donald Trump said the US economy is in a transition period, the EU announced it would respond to Washington's tariffs, Germany's export activities continued to decline... are outstanding world economic news.
 |
| From now on, Iranian electronic devices will be manufactured in the Russian Federation, bringing products from both countries to new markets. (Source: ABC Media) |
US economy
* Recently, in an interview on Fox News ' Sunday Morning Futures program about whether he predicted the US economy would decline this year, US President Donald Trump said he did not want to make such predictions and emphasized that the economy is in a transitional period because the policies Washington is implementing are very big changes.
While not directly answering the question, Mr. Trump’s response was broadly consistent with his speech to Congress last week and a series of recent comments from senior administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The Trump team’s central argument is that the prospect of tax cuts and future tariff revenue will boost the economy.
* US airline Delta Air Lines has lowered its revenue and profit forecast for the first quarter of 2025, due to a decline in consumer and business confidence in the face of economic "uncertainties".
Delta expects total revenue to increase 3% to 4% in the first three months of this year, down from the 7% to 9% growth forecast it gave on Jan. 10. Earnings are expected to be in the range of 30 cents to 50 cents per share this quarter, down from its previous forecast of 70 cents to $1 per share.
Chinese Economy
* China's state-owned COSCO Shipping Holdings is strengthening its auto shipping network to Europe by partnering with Germany's BLG Logistics , aiming to reduce the cost of Chinese cars on the continent.
BLG announced a partnership with a COSCO subsidiary in February. The deal includes COSCO vessels calling at least twice a month at the port of Bremerhaven in northern Germany, as well as COSCO shipping vessels using BLG's logistics facilities there.
COSCO can also use BLG’s logistics network when transporting cars by truck or rail to local dealers in Germany and Scandinavia as well as in Central and Eastern Europe. This will eliminate the need for automakers exporting cars from China to Europe to separately arrange for a logistics company to deliver the goods.
* Data from zhaopin.com, a Chinese job recruitment platform, showed that demand for jobs in the country's emerging and future industries increased in February 2025, both in terms of job seekers and job vacancies, another strong sign of the rise of China's tech industry.
Accordingly, the recruitment growth rate for drone engineering positions was 39.9%, while that for drone assembly and testing positions was 64.5%. The number of applicants for drone engineering positions increased by 287.3% year-on-year, while that for drone assembly and testing positions increased by 271.9%. The average monthly salary of a drone engineer is 17,678 yuan ($2,443.65).
European Economy
* The European Commission (EC) announced on March 12 that it will impose retaliatory tariffs on 26 billion euros ($28 billion) worth of goods imported from the United States from next month. The move escalates the global trade war after the United States imposed wide-ranging tariffs on steel and aluminum.
US President Donald Trump's decision to impose a 25% tariff on all imported steel and aluminum products took effect on March 12, after previous exemptions expired.
The EC said it would end its current tariff suspension on US goods on April 1 and would also introduce a new package of countermeasures on US goods in mid-April.
* The European Commission is raising 20 billion euros ($21.84 billion) to build four AI megafactories , part of Europe's strategy to catch up with the US and China in artificial intelligence (AI). However, some industry experts question whether building these factories makes sense.
The plan to build massive, publicly accessible data centers, announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last month, faces a number of challenges, from sourcing chips to finding suitable locations and power sources.
The lack of large European cloud service businesses such as Google and Amazon, or companies with millions of paying customers such as OpenAI (developer of ChatGPT), makes building this large-scale hardware what some observers have described as a risky venture, experts say.
* German exports continue to decline . Figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) show that “Made in Germany” goods exported a total of 129.2 billion euros ($140.2 billion) in the first month of the new year, down 2.5% from December 2024 and 0.1% from the same period in 2024.
Despite the December increase, German exports are set to decline for the whole of 2024. The country exported goods worth a total of 1.556 trillion euros last year, down 1.2 percent from the previous year, according to the latest figures from the Wiesbaden statistics office.
* Russia's Zelenograd Nanotechnology Center, which specializes in the production of lithography, sensors, and microchips, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran's Microtechnology Development Command. Under the agreement, Iranian electronic devices will be produced in the Russian Federation and products from both countries will be introduced into new markets.
A Kommersant source familiar with the signing of the memorandum explained that cooperation with the Iranian side at this stage will involve the production of lithography equipment for chips, telecommunications multiplexers, various sensors for cars, etc.
Economy of Japan and South Korea
* Koshidaka Holdings (Japan), owner of the Manekineko Karaoke chain, plans to increase the number of locations in Southeast Asia by five times to 100 and open 100 stores in the US within five years. The move comes as the domestic market in Japan stagnates.
Sales in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia totaled 1.1 billion yen ($7.48 million) in the year ending August 2024, with operating profit reaching 118 million yen. Koshidaka is focusing on family karaoke, taking advantage of larger group spending and lower operating costs. The company will expand into the Philippines later this year.
The parent company aims to raise consolidated sales to 100 billion yen by fiscal 2026, up 58% from fiscal 2023.
* According to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the basic salary in January 2025 increased by 3.1% compared to the same period last year, the highest level since October 1992.
Data showed that basic wages continued to grow well, even as workers faced pressure to spend due to inflation, which could help the Bank of Japan (BoJ) maintain its plan to gradually raise interest rates.
The BoJ raised interest rates to 0.5% in January 2025 and is expected to keep them there at its meeting next week. Further rate hikes could come in the summer or as early as May 1, according to some economists. Data showed household spending rose 3.7% in January 2025, the biggest gain since August 2022.
* According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea, on March 11, Minister Ahn Duk Geun held an online meeting with Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell to discuss ways to expand cooperation between the two countries in many fields.
During the online meeting, the two countries' trade ministers discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in supply chains and future industries, such as clean energy and digital fields, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea.
* According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport of South Korea on March 13, five major international automakers in Korea, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Toyota, Stellantis, and Ford, voluntarily returned a total of 15,671 vehicles of 11 different models to their factories due to faulty spare parts.
Accordingly, Mercedes-Benz will bring back 4,289 vehicles of two models, including the S580 4MATIC, to the factory due to a software error in the engine control unit.
Volkswagen discovered a brake control system software issue affecting 4,226 Audi Q4 40 e-trons and one other model, while 2,722 Toyota Sienna Hybrids were found to have third-row seat belts that were not properly fastened.
In the case of Stellantis, 1,731 Chrysler 300Cs were found to have insufficient durability in the fuel pump components, and Ford reported a door control module software defect in 1,535 Nautilus vehicles.
ASEAN Economy and Emerging Economies
* The Malaysian stock market (Bursa Malaysia ) continued to decline on March 10 due to concerns about escalating global trade tensions.
The benchmark FBM KLCI index fell 2.97 points to 1,544.3 points due to a broad sell-off, with energy and utility stocks hit the hardest.
The downtrend began in mid-February 2025, when investors lost interest in risk assets due to trade tensions between the US and major partners. Investors were also concerned about the impact of US tariff policies on global economic growth.
* The Philippines has decided to temporarily suspend poultry imports from three US states, including Indiana, New York and Pennsylvania, due to bird flu outbreaks in these states.
In a recent announcement, Philippine Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said the import ban applies to poultry and poultry products, including meat and eggs. In the first two months of this year, three US states have reported several outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza.
With the above ban, the Philippine Department of Agriculture immediately suspended the issuance of import and quarantine permits for poultry products from the three aforementioned US states.
* The Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) is calling on the government to set up a “war room” to deal with tariff threats from the Trump administration.
At a recent seminar organized by TCC on the topic “Thailand’s Trade Policy with the US under Trump 2.0,” Mr. Sanan Angubolkul, Chairman of TCC and the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said that the private sector is asking the government to set up a special group headed by the prime minister with representatives from both the public and private sectors to develop proactive strategies to respond to the drastic changes in US trade policy.
US import tariffs are expected to force many countries to turn to new markets, especially Southeast Asia, especially for electronics, electrical equipment, automobiles, industrial goods, consumer products, and agricultural and food products.
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/kinh-te-the-gioi-nga-iran-bat-tay-san-xuat-hang-dien-tu-mot-quoc-gia-dong-nam-a-keu-goi-lap-phong-tac-chien-doi-pho-thue-quan-cua-ong-trump-307383.html
Comment (0)