Business leaders blame US policies for trade conflict: study
A cargo ship is loaded with containers while docked at the port of Bangkok, in Bangkok, Thailand. REUTERS
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
9 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Bangkok's housing glut spreads to Phuket as developers rush for tourist demand
The housing glut in Bangkok is spilling over to Thailand's southern island of Phuket as property developers capitalised on demand from tourists and retirees after buyers from mainland China and Hong Kong retreated from the market. Some 10,000 new flats will enter the market this year, according to property consultancy Colliers, and new project launches are taking place on a weekly basis on the holiday island, according to property agents. 'Developers are counting on the upcoming high season to bring new buyers to the island,' said Nasupha Suwansri, a vice-president at Juwai IQI, a real estate broker with more than US$4 trillion in property listings globally on its platform. The fresh supply could worsen the glut as unsold inventory reached 4,982 units across 16 projects at the end of the fourth quarter last year, Colliers said in a report. New launches hit a record 14,718 units from 56 projects last year, it said, with buyers taking up only 64 per cent of them, it added. The problem highlights the fierce competition among Thai developers, after the crisis in Bangkok took a turn for the worse as sales growth cooled and mortgage rejection rates climbed. Thailand's economy grew at an annual pace of 3.1 per cent last quarter, slowing from 3.3 per cent in the final three months of 2024, according to official data. 02:11 In weed-friendly Thailand, island of Phuket crowns fastest joint-roller at inaugural event In weed-friendly Thailand, island of Phuket crowns fastest joint-roller at inaugural event A number of big Thai developers have pivoted to Phuket because of slowing sales of flats in Bangkok, according to Stuart Reading, managing director of group property development at Banyan Group Residences, a Singapore-based resort developer.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
Indonesia, EU to conclude 9 years of free trade negotiations
Indonesia said on Saturday that free trade negotiations with the European Union, which have been ongoing for nine years, are expected to be concluded by the end of June. Airlangga Hartarto, the chief economic minister for Southeast Asia's biggest economy, met with EU Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic in Brussels on Friday. 'Indonesia and the European Union have agreed to conclude outstanding issues and we are ready to announce a conclusion of substantial negotiations by the end of June 2025,' Airlangga Hartarto said in a statement. Indonesia will get zero tariffs for 80 per cent of its export products to the EU and removal of non-tariff barriers, as it pushes for bigger market access for footwear, garments, palm oil and fishery products, Airlanga told a press conference later on Saturday. The EU has discussed Jakarta's rules on mandatory use of local content in products sold in the Indonesian market, the automotive industry, trade of critical minerals and investment facilities, Airlangga said. Indonesia and the EU have previously disagreed on EU trade rules for products with potential links to deforestation that could affect Indonesian palm oil.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
US retailers demand Chinese firms pay shipping costs as trade pressure grows
US retail giants are demanding that their Chinese suppliers split or even bear the full cost of shipping goods across the Pacific, as freight rates skyrocket amid the disruption caused by the trade war, sources at Chinese export firms told the Post. Advertisement The move is the latest sign of the intense pressure America's biggest retailers are putting on Chinese factories to absorb more of the additional costs created by the trade war, with the companies facing calls at home to 'eat the tariffs'. Until recently, it was standard practice for major American retailers to pay the full cost of shipping goods from China to the United States, with the companies able to leverage long-standing relationships with global shipping firms to keep costs low, sources from exporters in eastern China's Zhejiang province said. But that is now changing. Factories in Zhejiang supplying the US' 'dominant' hypermarket chains are now having to foot part – or, in some cases, all – of the cost of transporting goods to America, according to the sources. Stage Group, a leading garment maker from Zhejiang, has been paying the logistics costs on 60 per cent of its US-bound shipments since the end of May, a sales representative from the company said. Advertisement
