2025-11-13 23:33
Nov 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is preparing broad exemptions to certain tariffs in an effort to ease elevated food prices, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing three people briefed on the actions. The change would apply to certain reciprocal tariffs Trump announced in April, including on products coming from countries that have not struck trade deals with the administration, according to the Times. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-administration-prepares-tariff-exemptions-bid-lower-food-prices-nyt-2025-11-13/
2025-11-13 23:32
Nov 14 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) , opens new tab said on Friday its Kennecott operation in Utah, U.S., has signed a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement with TerraGen to source renewable energy from a new wind farm in Texas. Under the deal, Rio Tinto will buy 78.5 megawatts (MW) of power from TerraGen's 238.5 MW Monte Cristo I Windpower project, which began commercial operations this week. Sign up here. The agreement comes after the Trump administration added copper to the U.S. critical minerals list, and as Washington and Canberra work to stabilize ties following a recent trade deal to deepen cooperation on critical minerals and clean energy supply chains. Rio Tinto's Kennecott smelter is one of two copper smelters still operating in the United States, a strategically important asset for domestic supply of copper used in power grids, EVs and renewable infrastructure. The Anglo-Australian miner has pledged to cut its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050, the company said. About 78% of the electricity Rio Tinto uses globally comes from renewable sources, and the company aims to lift that share to about 90% by the end of the decade. The renewable power purchase adds to decarbonization efforts at Kennecott, which installed a 5 MW solar plant in 2023 and is nearing completion of a second 25 MW solar facility. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/rio-tinto-signs-15-year-renewable-power-deal-with-us-based-terragen-2025-11-13/
2025-11-13 23:24
Germany's expert commission to rethink China trade policy Rare earth export curbs expose Germany's vulnerabilities Germany's dependency on China remains despite 2023 strategy BERLIN, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Germany's parliament appointed an expert commission on Thursday to rethink trade policy towards China, accelerating a policy of "de-risking" after Beijing's curbs on rare earths exports exposed how quickly German industry could be throttled. While a 2023 China strategy paper, which was commissioned by the previous government, contained only general recommendations, this time the committee of industry associations, labour representatives and think tanks will send actionable recommendations to the government for drafting legislation. Sign up here. The commission will examine energy, raw material imports and Chinese investment in critical infrastructure, and its creation comes days before Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil travels to China to press the European Union's case on a raft of issues. Germany has felt particularly vulnerable towards its largest trading partner this year, caught between U.S. President Donald Trump roiling global trade with swingeing tariffs and China flexing its own muscle with export curbs. "China can and will turn off the tap in critical areas; we remain far too vulnerable — so the pressure to act is now much higher," said Juergen Matthes, head of international economic policy at the German Economic Institute IW. Klingbeil will be the first minister of the new coalition to visit China as Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul postponed his trip, which was planned for the end of October, after Beijing confirmed only one of his requested meetings. A small delegation of representatives of German banks and insurance companies will travel to China next week with Klingbeil, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. "Risk management will play a larger role in the future China strategy. The question is: where are the levers China could use to exert political pressure, and how do we avoid them?" said Juergen Hardt, spokesperson for foreign policy of the ruling conservatives. RARE EARTHS SHOCK WAS A WAKE-UP CALL Europe's manufacturing export powerhouse Germany for years reaped the benefits of selling goods to China's vast and growing market. But in a strategy on China agreed in 2023, the previous government urged the "de-risking" of the two countries' economic relationship, calling Beijing a "partner, competitor and systemic rival". The 61-page document urged German firms to reduce their dependence on China but was light on any binding targets. A study by the German Economic Institute IW showed that in 2024, Germany’s potentially critical import dependency on China had hardly changed, compared with the previous year in which the China strategy was adopted. "Since the 2023 China strategy, I see no real progress on de-risking in my empirical research — what should have set off alarm bells just didn't," said Matthes, author of the study. According to this analysis of over 14,300 product groups, only about 200 currently rely on China for at least 50% of their product import needs, indicating that while import dependency is concentrated in a small number of product areas, these could still have significant economic impacts. "The elephant in the room is the dependency," said Jens Eisenschmidt, Chief Europe Economist at Morgan Stanley. "Decoupling is just impossible." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office in May promising to revive growth in Europe's largest economy following two years of contraction. "I don't think there has been a major effort in the government to rethink China as yet. It is simply a capacity issue," said Eisenschmidt, noting that government bandwidth had focused on domestic reforms. Merz initially seemed focused on getting to a good working relationship with the Trump administration and pushing for peace in Ukraine and the Middle East. But when China imposed restrictions on rare earth exports, it made Germany's vulnerability clear, as it imports about 80% of its supply from China. German companies were again left reeling after a row between the Netherlands and China over chipmaker Nexperia, which makes billions of chips for cars and other electronics, triggered a global supply chain crisis. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/germany-rethinks-china-policy-trade-squeeze-exposes-vulnerabilities-2025-11-13/
2025-11-13 23:19
NEW YORK, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley's (MS.N) , opens new tab underwriting of Zijin Gold International's (2259.HK) , opens new tab Hong Kong IPO placed it and its U.S. investors at risk of regulatory, financial and reputational harm, a U.S. House of Representatives committee told the bank on Thursday. Zijin Gold is a subsidiary of Zijin Mining Group (601899.SS) , opens new tab, a global mining company based in China that is on a U.S. government list of companies whose imports are banned over alleged human rights abuses involving Uyghurs. Sign up here. In September, Morgan Stanley assisted with Zijin Gold's IPO to help its parent company raise funds by selling its non-Chinese gold mining assets and listing them on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the House's select committee on China said. That raised questions of whether it helped Zijin Mining evade the U.S. prohibitions, according to the committee. Morgan Stanley declined to comment. Zijin Gold and Zijin Mining did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "When U.S. financial institutions engage with Chinese firms linked to Uyghur forced labor, they undermine the U.S. government's goal of deterring forced labor globally," Representative John Moolenaar, the committee's chair, wrote in a letter , opens new tab to Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick. In January, Zijin Mining was added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, which restricts imports tied to what the U.S. says is an ongoing genocide of minorities in China's western Xinjiang region. U.S. officials say Chinese authorities have established labor camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang. Beijing denies any abuses. In the letter, Moolenaar seeks documents and communications about Morgan Stanley's involvement in the public offering related to the company's links to the Chinese government, Chinese Communist Party, military, and human rights abuses. He asked for the information by November 27. The letter is the latest action by his committee on U.S. financial institutions' involvement in underwriting IPOs of Chinese companies with ties to the Chinese military or to illegal labor practices. In July, the committee subpoenaed documents from JPMorgan (JPM.N) , opens new tab and Bank of America (BAC.N) , opens new tab over their roles in underwriting the Hong Kong IPO of China's CATL (300750.SZ) , opens new tab, the world's largest electric vehicle battery maker. CATL has been designated a Chinese military company by the U.S. Department of Defense. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/morgan-stanley-questioned-by-us-house-panel-over-zijin-gold-ipo-hong-kong-2025-11-13/
2025-11-13 23:15
WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - U.S. airlines have cut far fewer flights for Friday than the requirement that they cut 6% of domestic flights at the 40 busiest American airports, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium and airline officials. The Federal Aviation Administration late on Wednesday said it would freeze mandatory flight cuts at 6%, and would not hike cancellation requirements as previously announced. Cirium said that after cancelling around 3.5% of total flights on Wednesday and Thursday, airlines have canceled just 1.4% for Friday. Sign up here. Airlines could still add cancellations and the FAA could revise the order. United Airlines (UAL.O) , opens new tab said it had canceled 134 flights for Friday, or almost 3% of its flights, after cancelling 222 flights on Thursday. The FAA did not immediately comment. Other airlines told Reuters on condition of anonymity they were not planning to cut 6% of flights on Friday. Before the FAA revised its order, airlines had been expected to cancel 8% of domestic flights on Thursday and 10% of flights at the 40 busiest airports. The FAA on Wednesday opted to ease those cancellations after disruptions due to air traffic control absences declined dramatically in recent days just ahead of Congress giving final approval to a deal to reopen the government that was quickly signed into law by President Donald Trump. "The 6% hold will remain in place as the FAA continues to assess whether the system can gradually return to normal operations," the agency said on Wednesday. Airlines canceled 1,020 flights on Thursday under the FAA's 6% requirement, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking website. Cirium said carriers by 4:20 p.m. ET had only canceled 371 flights for Friday. The FAA said on Thursday it was reporting staffing issues at Reagan Washington National and Newark airports, which were resulting in delays at both airports, but there were far fewer issues than before the government reopening. The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels. Many had been working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown led to them working without pay. Flight operations are improving, with just 3,000 delays on Thursday compared with 4,000 on Tuesday and nearly 10,000 on Monday, according to FlightAware. Air traffic absences have led to tens of thousands of flight cancellations and delays since October 1, when the 43-day shutdown began. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-airlines-reduce-flight-cuts-friday-despite-6-faa-order-2025-11-13/
2025-11-13 23:14
SAO PAULO, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Nu Holdings (NU.N) , opens new tab, the listed entity which runs Brazilian digital lender Nubank, posted on Thursday an increase in its third-quarter net income driven by its Brazilian and Mexican businesses, beating analysts' projections. The company reported a $783 million net income for the July-September period, up 39% year-on-year on a currency-neutral basis and above the $757 million expected by analysts in an LSEG poll. Sign up here. Shares of Nu Holdings rose about 3% in post-market trading right after the results. Chief Financial Officer Guilherme Lago told Reuters the profit increase was mainly supported by the continuous scale gain in Nubank's main market Brazil, while the company grew its credit portfolio in Mexico and cut what it pays for deposits in the country. "The combination of these two things, the operating leverage in Brazil, and the asset liability management in Mexico, led to a large boost to Nubank's consolidated results," Lago said. The firm's annualized return on equity (ROE), a gauge of profitability, stood at a record 31%, up from 30% in the same quarter last year. Nubank revenues rose 39% to $4.2 billion, above market estimates of $3.8 billion, with net interest income rising 32% year-over-year. On the other hand, the closely watched net interest margin contracted about one percentage point to 17.3%. Jefferies' analysts said Nubank posted a solid beat with no red flags in credit quality and with "management reiterating that delinquencies remain in line with expectations." The 15-to-90-day delinquency rate in Brazil came in at 4.2%, a 0.2 percentage point fall both yearly and quarterly. The over-90-day delinquency rate in the country stood at 6.8%, a decline from the 7.2% a year earlier but up from the 6.6% in the second quarter, a result the CFO attributed to seasonal effects. Nubank reached 127 million clients across its operations in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia and in September announced plans to enter the United States. It posted a credit portfolio of $30.4 billion, up 42% year-on-year. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/digital-lender-nubank-posts-q3-income-beat-record-profitability-2025-11-13/
