Taxes
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 2025Governments do not have money, but very few realize it. To create money in order to pay debts, to fund public services or to build infrastructure, a government either borrows by selling bonds or generates revenue through taxation. While governments may also receive income from other sources like fees, interest or commodities, taxes are generally […]
... written on Jul 24 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 2025Anwar Ibrahim must have thought it was a clever plan to fly overseas after deliberately leaving the judicial system in a mess. He was taking a page from ex-mentor Mahathir’s playbook. Former premier Mahathir Mohamad was known for going overseas to avoid domestic issues, or whenever he anticipated an upcoming crisis – whether it was […]
... written on Jul 13 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 2025
