EU working on new guidelines to better protect children online
The European Union is working on new guidelines to protect children online. Lawmakers say the online safety of children is a top priority, but as William Denselow reports from Brussels, stricter guidelines could also worsen tensions with Silicon Valley and the US administration.
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CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
US-China trade talks stretch into evening on second day
LONDON: A second day of high-level talks between the United States and China stretched into the evening on Tuesday (Jun 10), as officials gathered in London to defuse a bitter trade war that has been dragging on the global economy. Negotiators, who started meetings in the morning, held discussions during the day and took a break before an expected reconvening at 8.00pm local time, according to a US official. All eyes are on the outcomes of the talks as the world's two biggest economies try to overcome an impasse over export curbs and come to a longer-lasting truce in their tariff war. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick earlier told Bloomberg Television that the talks were "going well", expecting them to last "all day". But global stock markets were on edge. With talks dragging on, "the lack of positive headlines weighed on stocks and the dollar," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading platform. One of US President Donald Trump's top advisers said Monday that he expected "a big, strong handshake" after the meetings in the UK's historic Lancaster House. Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday: "We are doing well with China. China's not easy." The negotiations began on Monday in London, coming after an earlier round of talks in Geneva last month. This time, China's exports of rare earth minerals used in a wide range of things, including smartphones, electric vehicle batteries and green technology, are expected to dominate the agenda. "In Geneva, we had agreed to lower tariffs on them, and they had agreed to release the magnets and rare earths that we need throughout the economy," Trump's top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, told CNBC on Monday. Even though Beijing was releasing some supplies, "it was going a lot slower than some companies believed was optimal", he added. "Our expectation is that after the handshake, any export controls from the US will be eased, and the rare earths will be released in volume," Hassett said. This marked a signal that the Trump administration might be willing to ease some recent curbs if China rolled back rare earths restrictions as well. CONCESSIONS? Tensions between Washington and Beijing have heightened since Trump took office in January, with both countries engaging in a tariff war, hiking duties on each other's exports. The Geneva pact to cool temperatures temporarily brought new US tariffs on Chinese goods down from a staggering 145 per cent to 30 per cent, and Chinese countermeasures from 125 per cent to 10 per cent. But Trump recently said China had "totally violated" the deal. And analysts remain cautious. "We doubt that the US will back off completely. That's likely to restrain any relief rally," said Thomas Mathews, head analyst of Asia Pacific markets for Capital Economics. Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at the Swissquote Bank, said although there had been "no breakthrough," it seemed "the first day of the second round of negotiations reportedly went relatively well". On what he dubbed "Liberation Day" in April, Trump unveiled sweeping levies of 10 per cent on friend and foe alike, and threatened steeper rates on dozens of economies. The tariffs have dented trade, with official figures from Beijing showing Chinese exports to the United States in May plunged by 12.7 per cent. China is also in talks with other trading partners - including Japan and South Korea - to try to build a united front to counter Trump's tariffs. Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday urged South Korea's new President Lee Jae-myung to work with Beijing to uphold free trade and ensure "the stability and smooth functioning of global and regional industrial and supply chains," Xinhua news agency said. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng is heading the team in London, which included Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and China International Trade Representative Li Chenggang.
Straits Times
6 hours ago
- Straits Times
China's vice-president visits Spain as mutual courtship blossoms
MADRID - China's Vice-President Han Zheng arrived in Spain on June 10 for a four-day trip during which he will meet with King Felipe and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, a further sign of increasingly close economic and political ties. Mr Han's visit is taking place two months after Mr Sanchez visited Beijing for the third time in as many years. There, he sought to woo China's President Xi Jinping as global trade reels from US President Donald Trump's tariffs policy. The Socialist premier has been vying to position Madrid as an interlocutor between China and the European Union, as well as to attract more Chinese investment in advanced technology such as batteries, electric vehicles and hydrogen. In 2024, auto maker Stellantis and Chinese battery maker CATL announced plans to build one of Europe's largest EV battery factories in Spain. However, not all is idyllic in Spain's relations with China. Beijing's anti-dumping inquiry into EU pork launched in 2024 in retaliation for Brussels' tariffs on Chinese EVs hit Spain, a top exporter, hard. Mr Sanchez's last visit to China, however, clinched expanded access for Spanish exports of pork stomach - a product widely consumed in China but not previously authorised. Mr Han will meet Mr Sanchez on the morning of June 11 in Madrid, Mr Sanchez's office said, while King Felipe will receive the Chinese official on June 12, according to the royal household's agenda. The Spanish monarch is also scheduled to visit China later this year to commemorate the signing of a strategic partnership 20 years ago. After his meetings with Mr Sanchez and Spain's King, Mr Han is set to travel to Seville to meet Andalusia's regional leader, Mr Juan Manuel Moreno, who in 2024 secured over €2.5 billion (S$3.6 billion) of Chinese investments in the southern Spanish region. According to projections by tourism lobby Turespana, the number of visitors to Spain from China is expected to surge by 36 per cent this summer compared to 2024, making Spain the European destination with the biggest growth in tourists from the Asian nation. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
CNA
8 hours ago
- CNA
French Senate backs law to curb ultra fast-fashion
PARIS : France's Senate approved a revised version of a law regulating fast fashion on Tuesday, which if implemented would ban advertising by fast-growing Chinese e-commerce platforms like Shein and Temu. Senators in the upper house of parliament voted almost unanimously for a modified version of a bill passed by France's lower house last year, which aims to reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry. Critics say the low-priced garments produced by fast-fashion chains drive excessive consumption and waste, exacerbating the textile sector's impact on the environment. An amended version of the bill distinguishes between "ultra" fast fashion and "classic" fast fashion, however, imposing less onerous restrictions on European fast-fashion players like Zara and Kiabi, but drawing criticism from environmental groups. The "clarifications (made by the Senate) make it possible to target players who ignore environmental, social, and economic realities, notably Shein and Temu, without penalising the European ready-to-wear sector," said Jean-Francois Longeot, chair of the Senate's Committee on Regional Planning and Sustainable Development. "Shein is not a fast fashion company," said the Chinese firm in a statement in response to the vote, adding that its model was "part of the solution, not the problem". Faced with competition from very low-priced products, several French brands are experiencing significant difficulties, such as Jennyfer, which went into liquidation at the end of April, and NafNaf, which has been in receivership since May. The law would also introduce penalties for both fast and ultra fast-fashion companies if they don't meet certain environmental criteria, reaching at least 10 euros per item of clothing by 2030, or up to 50 per cent of the product's price excluding tax. The government needs to notify the European Commission of the vote, and will then need to set up a joint committee to reach a compromise between the Senate and lower house versions of the law before it is implemented.
