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July 04, 2026
 

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TRADE

A farmer harvests oil palm fruit at a plantation in Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan province last July.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2026
Indonesia’s radical export plan takes effect as doubts swirl
Indonesia is facing severe investor pressure as questions have grown around governance and its economic outlook under President Prabowo Subianto.
BYD electric vehicles on display at the company's megastore in Sydney. BYD recently used one of its own car-carriers for the first time to ship almost 5,000 EVs to Australia.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2026
China speeds past Japan in car exports to Australia on EV bonanza
Almost 36,000 passenger cars from China arrived in Australia in April, according to government data, well ahead of the 29,000 from Japan.
The won fell on Wednesday and was a whisker away from 1,536.95 per dollar, the lowest level since 2009.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 4, 2026
South Korea pledges action to curb volatility as won nears 2009 low
South Korea joins authorities in Indonesia and the Philippines in stepping up measures to defend currencies as elevated oil prices hurt the region’s importers.
Shipping containers at Qingdao port in China's eastern Shandong province on Tuesday
BUSINESS
Jun 4, 2026
U.S. cites forced labor concerns as grounds for new tariffs
The proposal comes from an investigation designed to help rebuild the U.S. President’s emergency tariffs, struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in February.
U.S. President Donald Trump during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room at the White House, in Washington on May 27
WORLD
Jun 3, 2026
Trump proposes new levies of at least 10% to rebuild tariff wall
Products from major economies — including China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Switzerland — would be subject to a 12.5% levy.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva last month
WORLD
Jun 3, 2026
U.S. tariff threats give Lula a new election attack on Bolsonaro
The move handed the Brazilian President a ready-made line of attack against his main challenger ahead of an election that polls suggest will be close.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer talks with Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard as they leave National Palace amid talks to review the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact, in Mexico City last month.
BUSINESS
May 30, 2026
Trump administration wants to raise North American auto content to 82%, with half from U.S.
The proposed new thresholds were revealed to automakers during two days of bilateral talks to revise the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade that concluded on ‌Friday.
Cargo cranes are seen at Keelung Port, Taiwan, on April 28, 2021. The U.S. on Wednesday said it will remove derivative aluminum, steel and copper duties from aircraft components imported from Taiwan and modify sectoral levies on certain other products.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 28, 2026
U.S. eases some tariffs on Taiwan to formalize trade agreement
The move forms part of a trade deal previously agreed between Washington and Taipei.
Shipping containers on the dockside at the port of Barcelona, Spain. EU officials are preparing the ground for possible new tools to counter China’s export surge
BUSINESS / Companies
May 27, 2026
EU firms warm to China even as tensions spiral over export surge
A new survey found about 35% of respondents were optimistic about their industry growing in China over the next two years, up from a record low of 29% in 2025.
Fumiya Kokubu, the former head of a major trading house, said Monday it would be "impossible” to procure alternatives for the 15 million kiloliters of naphtha a year that the country sourced from the Middle East before the war in Iran.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 26, 2026
Former Japan trading house head warns of naphtha supply crunch
Former Marubeni chair says Japan is likely to face a shortage of naphtha-derived chemical products as early as the end of June.
Japan’s net external assets rose to an all-time high at the end of 2025, but the total was surpassed by China, Finance Ministry data shows.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 26, 2026
Japan slips to world’s No. 3 creditor behind Germany and China
Japan’s net external assets rose to an all-time high at the end of 2025, but the total was surpassed by China’s, which climbed at a faster pace.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto delivers a speech on economic policies and the 2027 fiscal plan to parliament, as Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka sits behind him at the parliament building in Jakarta on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
May 24, 2026
Indonesia plans to beat global trading giants at their own game
Under a surprise plan, the country will take control of exports of the country’s major commodities — a sweeping move reminiscent of the country’s authoritarian past.
A Philippine Navy band plays music to welcome the Royal New Zealand Navy frigate HMNZS Te Kaha upon arrival at the South Harbor, for a four-day goodwill visit in metro Manila in April 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 23, 2026
New Zealand to invest in drones and fleet to shield maritime routes
Defense Minister Chris Penk said the government will invest in two types of drones: one for the southwest Pacific and another that can operate from ships in the Southern Ocean.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer speaks with reporters at the White House in Washington last month.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 23, 2026
U.S. weighs chip tariffs to spur domestic growth, trade chief says
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stressed the importance of using import duties to bring chip production back to the U.S.
Since ‌December, Chinese ‌exports of rare earth minerals like dysprosium, terbium and yttrium oxide, as ​well as specialty metal gallium, to Japan have stopped except for a few tiny shipments of yttrium, Chinese customs data shows.
JAPAN
May 23, 2026
China squeezes Japan over rare earths in repeat of 2010 showdown
The halt to exports ⁠began shortly after a diplomatic row over Taiwan erupted in November.
A mixture of urea and ammonium sulfate fertilizer on a corn field in Glendora, Mississippi.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2026
Human urine becomes option for farmers in fertilizer supply crunch
From Yorkshire chicken muck to human urine-based products, a fertilizer crunch tied to the Iran war is accelerating demand for alternatives to conventional nitrogen inputs.
India has appealed to citizens to drop overseas trips and avoid gold purchases to protect a rupee that is among the world's ​biggest losers since war in the Middle East reduced crude supplies.
BUSINESS / Markets / ANALYSIS
May 22, 2026
Asia’s currencies are flashing the oil shock alarm
Asia buys about 80% of oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, and stress in foreign exchange markets is one of the clearest signs of rising fuel prices starting to hurt growth.
Japan's trade balance in April was a ¥301.9 billion ($1.9 billion) surplus on an unadjusted basis, according to the Finance Ministry, remaining in the black unexpectedly on strong exports and a sharp drop in energy imports.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 21, 2026
Japan’s trade surplus remained in the black in April as energy imports plunged
Exports remained robust, with chip exports rising 44% amid strong demand for artificial intelligence-related products.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets with Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi, secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, at Downing Street in London on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 21, 2026
Britain clinches $5 billion Gulf trade deal in shadow of Iran war
The deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council comes after U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran prompted Iranian attacks on countries in the region, straining energy and food supplies.
World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala during an interview in Tokyo on Monday
BUSINESS
May 20, 2026
WTO chief urges Japan to lead the charge in reforming its rules
As an “important middle power,” Japan should take the lead in reforms for the World Trade Organization, said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, its director-general.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan's renewable goals.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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