03/11/2025

BIZ & FINANCE MONDAY | NOV 3, 2025

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Asia-Pacific leaders call for shared trade benefits

China made ‘mistake’ with rare-earth controls, Bessent tells FT GYEONGJU: China’s decision to impose export controls on rare earths was a “mistake” and drew attention to Beijing’s ability to use them as a coercive tool, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview published on Saturday. Beijing announced new controls in October on exports of technologies related to rare earths, crucial for manufacturing in defence, automobile, consumer electronics and other industries. The restrictions were a major sticking point in trade negotiations between Beijing and Washington, and China said it would halt them after presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump met this week. In an interview with the Financial Times , Bessent said: “China has alerted everyone to the danger. They’ve made a real mistake. “It’s one thing to put the gun on the table. It’s another thing to fire shots in the air.” Xi and Trump met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the South Korea last week. Following the talks, China said it would suspend certain export restrictions, including on rare-earth materials, for one year. The controls had rattled markets and snarled supply chains in the strategic sector, a key source of international leverage for Beijing. Bessent told the FT that China would not be able to pull the same move again, saying: “We have offsetting measures. “I think the Chinese leadership were slightly alarmed by the global backlash to their export controls.” – AFP Japan PM says no plan to renegotiate US$550 billion investment package with US GYEONGJU: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Saturday that she had no plans to renegotiate a US$550 billion investment package deal reached with the United States. “I believe that even if the prime minister changes, promises made between governments should not be altered,” Takaichi told reporters at the end of a week of diplomatic events including a summit with US President Donald Trump. Takaichi declined to comment on a trade deal that South Korea had inked with the United States, as details of the deal have not been disclosed yet. Before becoming prime minister last month, Takaichi had said that tariff renegotiation with Washington was not off the table if something came up that seemed unfair and hurt Japan’s national interests. Hardline conservative Takaichi was elected as Japan’s first female prime minister, breaking a political glass ceiling for women while also setting the country up for a decisive turn to the right. In Gyeongju, South Korea, Takaichi joined other leaders from around Asia region for an annual gathering and met Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. Takaichi said on Saturday that she and Xi had agreed to build a constructive and stable relationship. – Reuters

o Apec meeting adopts declarations on resilience, demographic change and AI GYEONGJU: Facing deepening fractures in the global trade order, Asia-Pacific leaders adopted a joint declaration that emphasised the need for resilience and shared benefits in trade at the end of the annual Apec summit on Saturday. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, hosted by South Korea this year, unfolded under the shadow of rising geopolitical tensions and aggressive economic strategies – ranging from US tariffs to China’s export controls – that have pressured global trade. Ahead of the gathering, US President Donald Trump announced trade deals with a number of countries, including China and South Korea. But he left before the summit kicked off. Washington’s views, however, remained on display in the declaration, analysts said, which, unlike last year’s document, did not mention multilateralism or the World Trade Organisation. “It is a result of member countries acknowledging, at least to some degree, that it will be difficult to restore a free trade order based on multilateralism and the World Trade Organisation,” said Heo Yoon, a professor of international trade at Sogang University in Seoul. “We cannot deny anymore that there is a paradigm shift in the global trade order.” With Trump’s swift exit before the summit, China sought to position itself as a steady advocate of free and open trade, a role the US had dominated for decades. China will host Apec in Shenzhen in 2026, President Xi Jinping announced. In closing remarks, Xi proposed the establishment of a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation, while the gathering adopted other declarations on demographic change and AI. But there was no mention of AI regulations. “China is clearly taking advantage of Trump’s absence at Apec to actively engage

Protesters stage a die-in performance during a rally against Trump and the Apec summit in Gyeongju. – REUTERSPIC

summit hosted by President Lee Jae Myung, the newly elected US ally who has pledged to balance Seoul’s ties with Beijing. The stakes were high for Lee, who assumed office in June after the ouster of his hawkish predecessor over a failed attempt to impose martial law. Lee faces the dual challenge of protecting South Korea’s export-driven economy and easing tensions with North Korea amid rising China-US competition. The Chinese president also held talks with the leaders of Japan, Canada, and Thailand. Taiwan’s representative to the Apec summit, Lin Hsin-i, said on Saturday he and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discussed supply chains and semiconductors during a meeting on the sidelines of the event. – Reuters

countries worried about the retreat of the US and China’s rise,Apec said Li Xing, a professor at the Guangdong Institute for International Strategies. “It’s certain they will be reassuring countries like South Korea that can no longer fully count on US backing due to Trump, that they’re not seeking hegemony but common enrichment.” However, Heo and analysts say the joint declaration suggests that member nations were wary of giving an impression that the US was undermining free trade while picturing China as a guardian of multilateralism. “Few countries believe there can be a new trade order that excludes the U.S.,” he said. Xi wrapped up his three-day visit to South Korea on Saturday with a state dinner and These range from port expansion to energy production and the infrastructure needed to boost extraction of critical minerals from remote areas. “We used to take big, bold risks in this country. It is time to swing for the fences again,” he said in the Ottawa speech. “This is what this upcoming budget will be about: building, taking control, and winning.” Carney and Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne have flagged that spending increases will be partly offset by cuts to government operating budgets. But those savings will not cover all the new costs. University of Ottawa public policy expert Genevieve Tellier told AFP she expects the deficit to be “very large”. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it were around C$100 billion (RM298 billion),” she said. Carney’s April election win left his Liberals

Carney promises bold budget as American threat grows OTTAWA: Canada’s new Liberal government unveils its first budget tomorrow, with Prime Minister Mark Carney saying “bold risks” are needed to reform an economy facing unprecedented economic threats from the United States. national projects that Carney has said are key to Canada’s economic sovereignty, given the “rupture” in economic ties with the United States. three seats short of a majority in Canada’s parliament. That means the government needs opposition support – or abstentions – to pass its budget. Because the budget is a confidence vote, its defeat would trigger fresh elections.

US President Donald Trump’s trade policies have hit Canada hard, driving up unemployment and squeezing businesses in crucial tariff-hit sectors like autos, aluminum, and steel. Carney, a former central banker who only entered politics in January, has warned Canadians that the Trump-era disruptions in US-Canada relations are not a passing phase. “Our relationship with the United States will never be the same as it was,” he told students at the University of Ottawa in a pre-budget speech last month. Carney said his government would propose a budget that addresses the stark new geopolitical realities facing Canada. Among the headline items will be major increases in defence spending to bring Canada in line with Nato targets. Funds will also be allocated to a series of

“Anything is possible,” said McGill University political scientist Daniel Beland, stressing the Liberals will “try everything” they can to pass the budget. Polling suggests Carney’s popularity has softened since the election. He told voters that his broad international experience in leadership roles in global finance made him the ideal leader to negotiate with Trump. But opposition parties have hammered Carney over his failure so far to secure a tariff-easing trade deal with the United States. Trump has suspended trade talks over an anti-tariff advertisement produced by Ontario’s provincial government, which quotes former Republican US president Ronald Reagan. Carney has said he is willing to restart trade negotiations whenever Trump is ready. – AFP