A day of significant global developments is underway, as China pushes back against US complaints over its new export curbs, Russia continues to test the limits of Western sanctions, and a new wave of US tariffs officially takes effect.
Here’s your one-stop stand to catch up on all the headlines you may have missed.
China says it is keeping US communication lines open after a new clash over export curbs
China has dismissed complaints from the US that it failed to respond to inquiries over its latest export curbs on rare earths, stating that Beijing has been maintaining communications over trade issues despite recent tensions.
The remarks came after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Beijing had not responded to American inquiries over the weekend.
“Both sides have been in communications all along under the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism and we had a working-level meeting just yesterday,” an unnamed spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
The ministry defended its decision to implement the curbs as a “legitimate measure.”
Russia steps up its exports of US-sanctioned LNG in a direct test for President Trump
A US-sanctioned liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Russia’s arctic region has pressed on with its fuel shipments as Moscow seeks to circumvent Western restrictions and test the resolve of President Donald Trump.
Ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg shows the Arctic LNG 2 export plant appears to be loading its 10th shipment since late June.
The plant was sanctioned by the Biden administration in 2023, but the Trump administration has so far held off on tightening measures as it seeks to end the war in Ukraine. Eight shipments of the sanctioned LNG have already arrived at a single port in southern China since August.
Pop Mart shares rise as a visit from Apple’s Tim Cook rekindles investor interest
Shares in the Chinese toymaker Pop Mart International Group Ltd. climbed the most in nearly two months after Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook’s visit to a Labubu exhibition in Shanghai rekindled investor enthusiasm.
The company’s Hong Kong-listed stock rose as much as 6.1 percent on Tuesday morning after Cook posted on his Chinese social media platform Weibo that he loved seeing how the Labubu designer Kasing Lung uses the iPad Pro to create his characters.
The high-profile visit has “sparked market imagination on a potential collaboration, which could open up new growth avenues for the company,” said Shen Meng, a director at the investment firm Chanson & Co.
New US tariffs on lumber and furniture have now officially taken effect
The US is now officially collecting new tariffs on imported timber, lumber, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and upholstered furniture, a move that threatens to raise the cost of home renovations.
The import taxes—initially set at 25 percent for cabinets and furniture and 10 percent for lumber—took effect on Tuesday. At President Donald Trump’s direction, most of these tariffs are set to rise even higher in the new year.
The move is the latest in Trump’s broad strategy of erecting trade barriers to try to drive manufacturing back to the US.
Europe is fighting for AI independence to avoid becoming a ‘tech colony’
European leaders are moving with a renewed sense of urgency to claim their piece of the global AI boom, as fears grow that the continent is at risk of becoming a “tech colony” of the United States and China.
From French President Emmanuel Macron to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, heads of state have been making splashy pledges to invest in massive data centers. Europe’s scarce tech giants, SAP SE and ASML Holding NV, have also recently committed billions of euros to homegrown AI startups.
The push comes as officials are growing increasingly worried that Europe’s access to a vital technology is vulnerable to Donald Trump’s trade wars and whims.
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