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From chocolate to skincare, and from Rolex watches to Nestle Nespresso coffee, American buyers of Swiss products would have to pay more as 39% tariffs announced by President Donald Trump comes into effect on Thursday (August 7). Facing one of the highest U.S. tariff rates in the world, many politicians, analysts and businesses were stunned […]
... written on Aug 07 2025There’s a joke that you don’t need to outrun the bear, you just need to be faster than your friend. In the case of Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, they tried to be faster than each other, only for Donald Trump – the bear – rewards all of them with the same19% tariff rate. And they […]
... written on Aug 05 2025President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who leads the EU’s executive body, announced a preliminary deal on Sunday (July 27) that saw the U.S. imposed tariffs of 15% on most goods entering the U.S. from Europe. In addition, European companies would buy US$750 billion worth of American energy products over three […]
... written on Jul 29 2025Mixing business with pleasure often leads to conflicts of interest and negatively impacts business and professionalism. But mixing business with politics could lead to a very complex and risky consequences. CK Hutchison found out the hard way when it announced a mega deal in March 2025 to sell its 90% stake in Panama’s ports of […]
... written on Jul 18 2025Donald Trump said he was “disappointed” in Vladimir Putin, who has kept attacking Ukraine as if the leaders’ telephone conversations “didn’t mean anything.” Trying to hide that he had been fooled by the Russian president, Trump said – “He’s fooled a lot of people. He fooled Bush. He fooled a lot of people. He fooled Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden. He didn’t […]
... written on Jul 16 2025Marco Rubio’s first visit to Southeast Asia as Secretary of State has given the U.S.’s Asian allies and trading partners a golden opportunity to express their concerns – or rather complaints – about Trump administration’s tariff threats. With only 36 hours to spare, he skipped visits to Japan and South Korea, heading directly to Malaysia […]
... written on Jul 11 2025Arriving in waves, letters from the Trump administration started reaching the desks of 14 countries on Tuesday (July 8) ahead of the July 9 deadline. However, the 90-day pause will get some breathing space as the new tariffs will begin only on August 1. Apparently, Trump renewed his threat of a 25% tax on products […]
... written on Jul 09 2025Beijing frequently criticises the U.S. of employing out-dated, zero-sum thinking in trying to contain and suppress China’s rise through the lens of “Cold War mentality”. As recently as June 2025, China denounced US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for calling the Asian country a threat, accusing him of touting a Cold War mentality – referring to the […]
... written on Jul 07 2025With merely days before Washington’s reciprocal tariffs come back in full force, global attention turned to Vietnam on Thursday (July 3) after Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Hanoi. Under the agreement, which the U.S. president proudly called the “Great Deal of Cooperation”, the U.S. will charge 20% tariffs on Vietnamese exports to the […]
... written on Jul 04 2025At midnight on June 13 (which coincided with the “unlucky” Friday 13th), Israel’s generals gathered in a bunker beneath Israeli air force headquarters and watched as jets descended on Tehran in an operation they called “Red Wedding.” Hours later and 1,000 miles away, Iran’s top military commanders were dead – a mass killing much like the […]
... written on Jun 28 2025
