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President Barack Obama said in a meeting Thursday with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that China needed to do more to resolve a dispute over the value of the Chinese currency, a senior U.S. official said.
Obama told Wen in their talks on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly that the currency was the “most important issue” of their meeting, the official said.
China’s Sinochem Corp. has hired banks to advise it how to foil BHP Billiton’s $39 billion bid for Potash Corp., two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The state-owned chemicals group had hired Deutsche Bank and Citigroup for the purpose, the sources said after BHP extended its offer for Potash, the world’s largest fertilizer group, by a month to November 18 to provide Canada’s competition regulator with more information. Get the full story »
The World Trade Organization adopted a ruling Tuesday condemning controversial European duties on electronics products after the European Union declined to appeal against the verdict by WTO judges. Get the full story »
Chinese automaker and General Motors Co. partner SAIC said Monday it is paying close attention to GM’s upcoming stock sale, but gave no hint over whether it plans to take a stake itself.
GM executives in the U.S. and China likewise refused comment on reports that the automaker is in talks with its state-owned joint venture partner SAIC about buying a stake in the Detroit company through its initial public offering. Get the full story »
A faster appreciation of the Chinese yuan by Beijing would be “appropriate,” the head of the European Union delegation to the U.S. said Friday.
EU Ambassador Joao Vale de Almeida said there is greater potential for collaboration between the U.S. and Europe, particularly in Group of 20 nation negotiations, to press more rapid reform of China’s currency to a market-based rate.
Caterpillar says its machine sales in August leaped 37 percent worldwide in August, led by surging sales in Latin and North America.
Boeing Co. received billions of dollars in illegal government subsidies, including $25 million in incentives that Illinois provided the plane maker to relocate its world headquarters to Chicago in 2001, a panel of the World Trade Organization determined.
The WTO report is confidential and was released to U.S. and European trade officials Wednesday. It is the first ruling in the second of dueling trade cases filed by the U.S. and European Union against each other last decade alleging that aircraft manufacturers had received unfair government support. Get the full story »
Kraft executives laid out a strategy to deliver more growth and higher returns following its Cadbury acquisition, at the company’s annual investor conference in New York Wednesday.
In a presentation some analysts described as short on specifics, chief executive officer Irene Rosenfeld and key members of the executive team described a strategy of focusing on so-called “power brands” and regional brands in each area of the world, and a system for sharing best practices throughout the world. Get the full story »
The dollar surged on Wednesday to its highest level against the Japanese yen in September after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly moved to weaken the yen.
European aerospace group EADS is open to adjusting the price of its refueling aircraft bid if the Air Force asks for final proposal changes, but will still see significant profit from the bid, the company’s U.S. chairman said on Tuesday.
The Air Force has been evaluating rival bids from EADS and Boeing in a competition valued at up to $50 billion, since July, with an eye to awarding a contract this fall. Get the full story »
The building of the Bank for International Settlements, BIS, in Basel, Switzerland. (AP/Georgios Kefalas)
Bankers and analysts said new global rules could mean less money available to lend to businesses and consumers, but praised a decision to give them plenty of time — until 2019 — before the so-called Basel III requirements come into full force.
The rules, which will gradually require banks to hold greater capital buffers to absorb potential losses, are likely to affect the credit industry by imposing stricter discipline on credit cards, mortgages and other loans. Get the full story »
Oreo products packaged for distribution in China. (Lane Christiansen /Tribune)
Kraft Foods, North America’s largest food company, is looking to double the number of Chinese cities in which it distributes Cadbury products within the next two years, its China head said on Monday.
The number of cities in China in which Cadbury confectionary is sold would rise to about 40 by tapping Kraft’s distribution network, Lorna Davis, president and chairman of Kraft’s China operations told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in China. Get the full story »
A leading U.S. banking group is urging Basel Committee negotiators working on new international capital standards to ditch part of their proposal. Get the full story »
A bribery investigation into a Hewlett-Packard Co. government contract in Russia has broadened to include more deals dating back to 2000.
In a statement Friday, HP said it is cooperating with authorities, “who have now expanded their investigations beyond” a transaction with the Russian prosecutor’s office. Get the full story »
