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Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Trump announces ‘massive' Japan trade deal including 15% tariff
The US and Japan remained locked in trade talks for months, with car and steel tariffs emerging as major sticking points. (EPA Images pic) WASHINGTON : President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the US had agreed to a 'massive' trade deal with Japan that would include a 15% tariff on its exports. The two countries have been locked in negotiations for months since Trump launched his global trade offensive, with levies targeting steel and automobiles – both important Japanese exports – seen as particular sticking points. Trump had previously threatened Japan, a major US trading partner, with a tariff of 25% beginning Aug 1 if a deal was not reached. 'We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made,' Trump announced on his Truth Social platform. He said that under the deal, 'Japan will invest, at my direction, US$550 Billion Dollars into the United States, which will receive 90% of the Profits.' He did not provide further details on the unusual investment plan, but claimed the deal 'will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs.' Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that he needed to examine the deal before commenting. 'As for what to make of the outcome of the negotiations, I am not able to discuss it until after we carefully examine the details of the negotiations and the agreement,' Ishiba told reporters in Tokyo after Trump's announcement in Washington. Rice imports? Japan has agreed to 'open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things,' Trump said. Rice imports are a sensitive issue in Japan, and Ishiba's government had previously ruled out any concessions on the topic. Japan's Nikkei index bounced over 1% on news of the deal, with Japanese auto stocks rising 6%. The deal comes after Ishiba faced a bruising weekend election that left his coalition without a majority in the upper house. Trump has been under pressure to wrap up trade pacts after promising a flurry of deals ahead of his Aug 1 tariff deadline. Earlier on Tuesday, he announced a deal had been reached with the Philippines which would see the country face 19% tariffs on its exports. The White House also laid out details of a deal with Indonesia, which would see it ease critical mineral export restrictions and also face a 19 percent tariff. Similar agreements have been struck with the UK and Vietnam, while negotiations are ongoing with the top three largest US trading partners, China, Canada and Mexico. After an escalatory tit-for-tat with Beijing, the two major economies agreed to a temporary lowering of tariffs, with another round of negotiations expected next week in Stockholm. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has imposed a sweeping 10% tariff on allies and competitors alike, alongside steeper levels on steel, aluminum and autos. Legal challenges to Trump's non-sectoral tariffs are ongoing.
Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Trump says Vietnam trade deal is ‘pretty well set'
Vietnam has nearly tripled exports to the US since 2018, when the first Trump administration imposed sweeping tariffs on China. (EPA Images pic) WASHINGTON : US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that a trade agreement with Vietnam was nearly complete. Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews near Washington that he could release details of the Vietnam trade agreement, but did not think it was necessary. The US president announced earlier this month that he had struck a preliminary trade deal with the Communist country, which would cut planned US tariffs on imports from Vietnam to 20% from the 46% level he had threatened in April. At the time, Trump also said goods that Washington deemed to be illegally transshipped through Vietnam to other countries would be subject to a 40% levy. The agreement has not been finalised and details have not been released, leaving questions over how Washington will define an illegal transshipment and how much value Vietnam must add to imported products to avoid the 40% tariff. It also remains unclear which products would fall under Trump's 20% tariff. Vietnam has not confirmed the specific tariff rates, celebrating what it described as an agreement on a joint statement about a trade framework. Asked if he planned to release details of the trade pact with Vietnam, Trump told reporters, 'Well, I might. I don't think it matters how much you release of the deal. We have a Vietnam deal, and I would say that that deal is being pretty well set.' Vietnam has nearly tripled its exports to the US since the start of the US-China trade war in 2018, when the first Trump administration imposed wide-ranging tariffs on Beijing, pushing some manufacturers to move production south. At the same time, Vietnam vastly expanded imports from China, with their inflow almost exactly matching the value and swings of exports to the US, each totalling around US$140 billion in 2024, data from the US and Vietnam show.
Daily Express
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Express
Malaysian doctor dies while hiking at Italy's Dolomites
Published on: Thursday, July 24, 2025 Published on: Thu, Jul 24, 2025 By: FMT Reporters Text Size: Dr Khaw Bee Ling was reportedly hiking at Croda del Becco with a friend when they decided to split up, with Khaw continuing the ascent while her friend turned back. (EPA Images pic) PETALING JAYA: A Malaysian doctor was found dead while hiking at the Dolomites in Italy, with the 60-year-old believed to have fallen from a height. Dr Khaw Bee Ling, a specialist at Metro Specialist Hospital in Sungai Petani, Kedah, was reported missing on July 18 while hiking at Croda del Becco. She was reportedly hiking with a friend when they decided to split up, with Khaw continuing the ascent while her friend turned back, Buletin TV3 reported. At some point, Khaw managed to send a message to her friend saying she was lost and needed help, but she could not be reached after that. Her friend contacted the authorities, who launched a search operation using a helicopter, drones and tracker dogs to look for Khaw. She was found dead in a crevice on July 19. The authorities believe she had strayed from the mountain's path and slipped at a rocky area that was steep and slippery, before falling from a height of nearly 100m. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- Climate
- Free Malaysia Today
Hong Kong axes flights, classes as Typhoon Wipha nears
Passengers stranded at Hong Kong airport as Typhoon Wipha grounds multiple flights. (EPA Images pic) HONG KONG : Hong Kong issued its third-highest tropical cyclone warning in the early hours of Sunday as Typhoon Wipha drew nearer, with authorities cancelling classes and grounding hundreds of flights. Wipha was located around 280km (175 miles) southeast of Hong Kong as of midnight (1600 GMT), according to Hong Kong's weather observatory. The observatory has hoisted the T8 warning signal, meaning that 'winds with mean speeds of 63kmh or more are expected'. The storm was expected to keep intensifying, moving across the northern part of the South China Sea and edging closer to the coast of China's Guangdong province. 'There will be frequent heavy squally showers and thunderstorms over the region. Seas will be high with swells,' the observatory added. China's Hainan and Guangdong provinces were also put on high alert, state news agency Xinhua reported Saturday. More than 250 flights servicing Hong Kong had been cancelled as of late Saturday, according to the website of the city's international airport. Hong Kong's Airport Authority asked travellers to prepare for 'significant flight cancellations or delays' and said that no passenger flights are expected to depart the city before Sunday noon. Authorities suspended Sunday's classes at all day schools and daycare centres. Bus services are expected to be halted until midday Sunday. Wipha brought heavy rains and flooding to the Philippines and two people have been reported missing, according to the country's national disaster risk reduction and management council.
Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- Health
- Free Malaysia Today
South Korea sees record birth rate growth for January to May
The number of South Korean newborns rose by 3.6% from the previous year in 2024. (EPA Images pic) SEOUL : South Korea registered record birth rate growth during the first five months of the year, a statistics agency official told AFP today. The country has one of the world's longest life expectancies and lowest birth rates – a combination that presents a looming demographic challenge. Seoul has poured billions of dollars into efforts to encourage women to have more children and maintain population stability. 'The number of newborns for the January to May period stood at 106,048, a 6.9% increase, the highest growth rate since such data collection began in 1981,' said Kang hyun-young from Statistics Korea. The surge follows South Korea's first annual increase in the number of births in more than a decade, driven by a rise in marriages. In 2024, the number of newborns rose by 8,300, or 3.6%, to 238,300 from the previous year. April in particular saw a spike, with year-on-year growth reaching 8.7% and the number of births totalling 20,717 that month. The latest figure marks a sharp turnaround from early 2024, when the number of births for the January to May period dropped by 2.7% from the previous year. The fertility rate, or the average number of babies a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, for May stood at 0.75. The country needs a fertility rate of 2.1 children in order to maintain the country's population of 51 million. At current rates, the population will nearly halve to 26.8 million by 2100, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle. Marriage correlation The increase is attributable 'to a rise in the number of women in their early 30s, leading to an overall increase in marriages', Kang told AFP. 'In South Korea, there is a strong correlation between marriage and childbirth, which has driven the increase in births during the first five months,' she added. In 2024, the country saw a 14.8% on-year increase in the number of marriages, with more than 220,000 couples tying the knot. Many government benefits designed to support child-rearing do not cover parents who are not legally married. Analysts say there are multiple reasons for the low birth rate, from high child-rearing costs and property prices to a notoriously competitive society that makes well-paid jobs difficult to secure. The double burden for working mothers of managing the brunt of household chores and childcare while also maintaining their careers is another key factor, they say. In a bid to reverse the trend, the South Korean government offers cash subsidies, babysitting services, and support for infertility treatment. Neighbouring Japan is grappling with the same issue – it has the world's second-oldest population after Monaco, and the country's relatively strict immigration rules mean it faces growing labour shortages.
