Bloomberg
“China Vows Not to Fire Tariff Shot Ahead of U.S. in Trade War.”
China said that it wouldn’t implement tariffs ahead of the U.S. on Friday, after previous arrangements put it on course to do so.
«We will never fire the first shot and will not implement tariffs ahead of the U.S.,» the Ministry of Finance said in a statement late Wednesday, after media reported that Beijing would start levying tariffs hours ahead of the U.S. due to the time zone difference.
Bloomberg earlier reported that China would start applying the duties from midnight on Friday — midday on July 5 in Washington — according to two officials with knowledge of the plans. The Chinese customs service had adjusted their systems so the new tariffs would start being charged as soon as the clock ticks over to July 6 in Beijing, according to one of the people.
Beijing time is 12 hours ahead of Washington. A statement issued by the China’s State Council on June 16 said that retaliatory extra duties on $34 billion of U.S. imports are set to take effect on July 6.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s statement from June 15 said that Customs and Border Protection would begin collecting their additional duties from July 6. Neither nation specified a time.
In the brewing trade war between the U.S. and China, Beijing officials consistently seek to portray their nation as simply being on the defensive against Donald Trump’s aggressive tactics.
Reuters
“Merkel, under fire from left and right, defends German immigration plan.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended on Wednesday a deal on tightening immigration controls from attacks directed by both her Social Democrat coalition partners and the far-right opposition.
The left criticized Merkel’s plan, sealed at the weekend with her Bavarian conservative allies, as being too draconian while the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party called on Merkel to resign, denouncing it as too soft and vague.
Migrant arrivals peaked in 2015 at more than a million people, many of them fleeing the Syrian war and therefore entitled to asylum, while others were trying to escape poverty. Numbers have since dropped sharply but Merkel told parliament that Germans had to be reassured. “Order must be brought to all forms of migration so people have the impression that law and order is being implemented,” she said to applause for her own lawmakers but jeers from the AfD.
Merkel offered the chance for people seeking a better life, including Africans, to contribute to German society too. Merkel averted a resignation by Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who leads the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), by agreeing a system of transit centers on the German border. From there, migrants already registered elsewhere in the European Union and not entitled to settle in Germany could be deported.
The agreement, aimed at settling a row that threatens to topple her three-month old government, has disconcerted some Social Democrats (SPD) who fear for the migrants’ civil liberties. The center-left party, which must back the plan for it to go ahead, wants to avoid creating the impression that the transit centers will amount to internment centers for refugees.
BBC News
“World Cup economic boost could be worth £2.6bn.”
The UK’s economy could receive a £2.6bn spending boost if England make it to the World Cup final, research suggests. And every time an England footballer scores a goal, an extra £200m may be spent in the country’s shops and pubs.
Work done by the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) for VoucherCodes shows extra spending is already almost double what it was at the last World Cup. The CRR estimates that spending will rise by more than £1bn as England moves on to the quarter finals on Saturday.
In its report on World Cup spending the CRR says: «Every goal scored by an England footballer – right the way to the final – would be worth £165.3m to England’s retailers and an extra £33.2m to pubs, hotels and restaurants.»
The CRR research breaks down where fans are spending extra cash in the latter stages of the competition. But if England makes it to the final, the CCR estimates that another £1.5bn will be spent. That would mean the aggregate spending throughout the competition would then be close to £2.6bn.
Bloomberg
“Buoyant Euro-Area Services Drive Pick-Up in Growth Momentum.”
The euro area’s services sector expanded at a faster pace than initially estimated in June, as the industry drove a pick-up in the bloc’s growth momentum.
A purchasing managers’ index for the region climbed to 55.2 last month, higher than an earlier flash estimate of 55 and up from 53.8 in May, IHS Markit said Wednesday. The survey also showed business optimism climbed for the first time in four months, while activity, new orders and employment also accelerated.
The buoyancy in services helped push a composite reading for output in the wider euro area economy to 54.9, again higher than an initial estimate. While the average reading for the second quarter as a whole was the lowest since the end of 2016, it still points to a growth rate of just over 0.5 percent in the period, Markit said.
That compares with 0.4 percent in the first three months of 2018, and suggests the region is gathering pace after a slow start to the year. European Central Bank officials have expressed confidence in the underlying strength of the region’s economy, saying last month they plan to end bond purchases this year.
“Eurozone growth regained momentum in June, rounding off a respectable second quarter performance,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at Markit. “The upturn in the pace of economic growth and resurgent price pressures adds support to the ECB’s view that stimulus should be tapered later this year, but the details of the survey also justify the central bank’s cautious approach.”
Reports earlier Wednesday showed readings for the services sector in Germany and Italy climbed to four-month highs, while France’s reached the most in two months. Spain was the only euro region nation covered to see a drop in growth momentum, Markit said.