Economy
Trump urged to keep stance on Chinese car imports ahead of Xi summit
As U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to embark on a visit to China to meet his counterpart Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, the American auto industry and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are united in a message: Please don’t offer China any access to the U.S. car market.
Trump in January told the Detroit Economic Club that it would be “great” if Chinese automakers wanted to build plants in the U.S. and employ Americans, adding: “I love that. Let China come in, let Japan come in.”
His comments rang alarm bells in an industry that had systematically lobbied successive administrations to bar Chinese cars from the U.S. market with tough data security rules and high tariffs on electric vehicles.
So automakers, suppliers, steelmakers, unions and politicians have redoubled their efforts, arguing that Chinese automakers, with limitless state support, massive scale, an EV technology edge and rock-bottom prices, would crush domestic and other foreign producers, hollowing out the core of the U.S. manufacturing base.
Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan went to the same forum in Detroit on Thursday specifically to urge Trump not to make a deal with Xi to allow Chinese investment in the U.S. auto sector that brings Chinese-brand cars into U.S. dealerships.
‘A bad deal’
“Please don’t make a bad deal,” said Slotkin, who also promoted her bipartisan bill with Republican Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio that would explicitly bar Chinese vehicles over data collection concerns.
Their Connected Vehicle Security Act, which has a bipartisan companion bill in the House of Representatives, would codify a data rule effectively banning Chinese vehicles implemented by former President Joe Biden, making a reversal extremely difficult.
The House bill would go further, banning industry partnerships with Chinese companies. Congressional aides told Reuters that with broad support, the legislation could pass this year, possibly attached to a transportation spending bill.
“Every vehicle on American roads is a rolling data collection device, capturing information on location, movement, people, and infrastructure in real time, and we cannot allow Chinese vehicles or components to be a part of that system,” sponsoring representatives Debbie Dingell, a Democrat, and John Moolenaar, a Republican, said in a joint statement.
They are both from auto-heavy districts in Michigan. Some 74 House Democrats and 52 House Republicans signed letters recently urging Trump not to allow Chinese automakers to enter the American market.
Industry backs Chinese auto ban
The U.S. auto industry has shown unusual unity in supporting a ban.
Groups representing U.S. and foreign-brand automakers, car dealers and parts manufacturers in March told the administration that China’s efforts to dominate global auto production and gain access to the U.S. market “pose a direct threat to America’s global competitiveness, national security and automotive industrial base.”
Steel industry groups followed through with a similar letter on April 30, and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), which has criticized Trump’s past tariffs on Chinese imports, also applauded the legislation to ban Chinese vehicles.
“Chinese automakers are not normal market competitors. Their EVs are the product of decades of state-backed mercantilism designed to help China capture global leadership in advanced industries,” said ITIF vice president Stephen Ezell.
“Once China’s subsidized firms are embedded in the U.S. market, the economic and national security damage would be far harder to reverse – and it would not be limited to Detroit,” Ezell added.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in Detroit in April that there were no plans to change the connected car rule, and that autos were not on the agenda at the Beijing summit.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also has ruled out Chinese investments in the U.S. autos sector.
But Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a domestic industries group, said there is a strong concern that Trump, who often talks of attracting more auto assembly plants to the U.S., could act alone.
“He’s left wiggle room in dealing with the auto sector,” Paul said.
Any plant approved would take two to three years to launch production, leaving consequences for Trump’s successor.
The White House and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.
Low prices, market share gains
The industry wants to avoid a repeat of Chinese automakers’ steady market share gains in Europe and Mexico. A growing auto affordability crisis in the U.S., where Kelley Blue Book estimates the average vehicle list price now exceeds $51,000, makes existing producers especially vulnerable to cheaper Chinese models.
Last year, Chinese brands doubled their share of Europe’s car market to 6%, but took 14% of Norway’s market, 9% in Italy, 11% in Britain and 9% in Spain, and consumer interest in Chinese EVs is growing as the Iran war spikes gasoline prices.
Canada is beginning to import 49,000 Chinese EVs annually, and 34 Chinese auto brands are now on sale in Mexico, accounting for about 15% of that market at prices far below anything available in the U.S.
Geely’s EX2 EV starts at about $22,700 in Mexico, more than twice its price in the cut-throat Chinese market, but far below the cheapest Tesla Model 3 U.S. price of $38,630.
Even Toyota, which undercut Detroit automakers in the 1980s and 1990s, is having difficulty with Chinese pricing in the Mexican market, said Toyota Motor North America division manager David Christ.
“Obviously, there’s some level of government support, or else they couldn’t transact at that price,” Christ said in an interview. “So it has a huge impact on business.”
The business community hailed a new law establishing the legal framework for the government’s terror-free Türkiye initiative, saying it would lift investor confidence, spur regional development and brighten the country’s long-term economic outlook.
Lawmakers on Monday voted overwhelmingly in favor of the legislation, titled the Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration, aimed at advancing a peace effort and the dissolution of the PKK terrorist group,
The law would end one of the world’s longest-running insurgencies, which has killed tens of thousands of people in Türkiye, fueled social division, and, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, cost more than $2 trillion (TL 95.51 trillion).
The business world described the legislation as “historic” and an important “milestone” for Türkiye’s economic future, saying economies grow faster in an environment of trust and stability.
‘Peace means more investment’
Mustafa Gültepe, chair of the Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TIM), said a Türkiye free from terrorism and security risks, with stronger social cohesion, would become more predictable for investors, more stable for manufacturers and more competitive for exporters.
Gültepe added that the legislation would strengthen positive expectations across a broad range of areas, including Türkiye’s sovereign risk premium, investment climate, regional development and foreign trade.
He also said it would enable more efficient use of public resources by strengthening coordination and reducing waste, creating a more predictable and sustainable environment for both the public and private sectors.
“For exporters, peace means more investment, more production, more trade and more exports,” Gültepe said, adding that TIM was ready to capitalize on the opportunities created by the new period.
Redirecting of resources
Burhan Özdemir, head of the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSIAD), called the legislation “a historic decision” for Türkiye’s future and national unity.
He said dismantling the terrorist group marks the beginning of a “new era” that could accelerate economic development.
That could particularly go for eastern and southeastern Türkiye, a region that has long lagged behind economically due to persistent risks.
According to Özdemir, terrorism has cost Türkiye more than $2 trillion over the past four decades by slowing development and diverting resources away from productive investment.
“Now is the time to direct our resources not to defense but to development, production, employment and high technology,” he said.
Özdemir added their members would now work to increase investment, create employment opportunities for young people and strengthen production particularly in the east and southeast.
Strong guarantee for development
Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) Chairperson Nail Olpak said the legislation marked “a historic threshold,” adding that every step toward permanently eliminating terrorism was welcomed by the business community.
He said a more predictable and secure environment would reinforce Türkiye’s competitiveness by encouraging greater investment, production, employment and exports, while also enhancing the country’s appeal to international investors.
“A Türkiye where the shadow of terrorism has been lifted, and security has been strengthened, is the strongest guarantee not only for social peace but also for economic development,” Olpak said.
He noted that confidence, stability and predictability consistently rank among the most important factors cited by the international business community.
Olpak also said stronger domestic unity and lasting security would support regional development and improve Türkiye’s global competitiveness, adding that the business world was fully aware of the economic and social benefits that the terror-free Türkiye initiative could generate.
‘Historic’ opportunity
Anatolian Lions Businessmen Association (ASKON) Chair Orhan Aydın described the initiative as a “historic” opportunity for the country’s future while stressing the importance of preserving social cohesion throughout the process.
“A Türkiye free of terrorism means a safer, more peaceful country with a stronger investment environment,” Aydın said.
He suggested that a more secure environment would make Türkiye more prosperous, improve its international competitiveness and encourage both domestic and foreign investment.
“A factory chimney producing smoke symbolizes not only production but also peace,” Aydın said, adding that the new period would provide a significant boost to investment and manufacturing while making Türkiye a more reliable destination for international investors.
He said businesses around the world naturally gravitate toward safe and predictable markets, expressing confidence that Türkiye would be among the main beneficiaries of a lasting improvement in security and stability.
Inflation in the U.S. slowed in July and a measure of underlying price pressures also cooled, according to official data Wednesday that suggested higher oil and gas prices from the Iran war were only having a limited impact on broader costs in the economy.
Consumer prices rose 3.4% last month from a year ago, down slightly from 3.5% in June, the Labor Department said Wednesday. But inflation is still higher than before the Iran war began in February, when it was 2.4%. On a monthly basis, prices rose just 0.1% from June to July.
The modest decline could ease pressure on the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve (Fed) and may give them some room to maneuver ahead of potential rate hikes.
Yet prices are still rising more quickly than average wages, underscoring the struggle many Americans have had with more expensive groceries, gas, and health care, trends that have taken on a high profile in the fast-approaching midterm elections.
U.S. households have been battered by more than five years of elevated prices since the pandemic hit, and the July data is still well above the Fed’s long-term 2% target.
President Donald Trump’s Republicans are facing a stern test in upcoming midterm elections, with Democrats seeking to wrest control of Congress over his handling of the world’s largest economy.
Inflation has surged since Trump launched the war on Iran, with Tehran’s retaliatory action virtually blocking the critical Strait of Hormuz through which a fifth of global energy supplies normally transit.
Consumer inflation came in at 2.4% in February, before spiking to a three-year high of 4.2% in May.
In July, energy prices continued to lead the line in terms of price increases, with gasoline prices – a sensitive political issue – up 24.6% from a year ago.
Fuel oil, used by households for heating and in various industrial applications, was up 39.1% from the year before.
Still, the energy index overall was 1.5% lower than a month ago, indicating a downward trajectory for prices of those commodities as talks to end the war continue.
Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation also slipped to 2.5% in July from a year ago, down from 2.6% in June.
Core prices rose 0.2% from June to July. Monthly increases at about 0.2% would be low enough over time to bring inflation closer to the Fed’s 2% goal.
Still, oil prices remain elevated and gas prices rose in late July and August, suggesting overall inflation could accelerate next month. On Wednesday, gas averaged $4.04 a gallon nationwide, 16 cents higher than a month ago, according to the motor club AAA.
Key questions for Fed policymakers
Inflation has been pushed higher by a series of shocks to the economy, including Trump’s tariffs imposed last spring, higher gas prices stemming from the Iran war, and a surge in investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure that has boosted computer chip prices.
The key question for the policymakers at the Fed – not to mention for consumers struggling with high gas and grocery prices – is how quickly those one-time effects will fade or whether they will lead to persistently rising prices.
Wednesday’s figures could bolster officials at the Fed who believe the central bank can leave its key rate on hold at about 3.6% while inflation steadily declines on its own as those temporary factors fade.
Overall, price increases have stayed above the Fed’s 2% target for more than five years, suggesting that more than temporary factors may be at work. The cost of services such as health care, restaurant meals, and car maintenance are on average rising at more than 3% annually, and they aren’t particularly sensitive to gas prices or AI investment.
Rising costs for services often reflect higher wages, as companies charge more to offset the cost of higher pay. But incomes aren’t growing fast enough to sustain inflation, economists note.
It’s a confounding situation that has left many economists – and Fed officials – seeking more information to determine where inflation is headed.
“You’ve got all these things that are just not the way the economy used to behave,” Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG, said.
For many consumers, years of sharply rising grocery prices have led them to adopt a wide range of coping strategies, from comparison shopping to couponing, to cutting back on favorite foods.
Many firms still pass on higher costs
Some retailers, such as Walmart, have responded by rolling back food prices, a trend that could have lowered July’s inflation figures. Yet many other firms are still passing on higher costs.
Paint company Sherwin-Williams is planning an 8% price increase effective Sept. 1 to offset higher raw material costs, CEO Heidi Petz told analysts late last month. She said that because of the company’s strong relationships with suppliers, it was able to delay price increases until now.
“We are seeing the impact of higher oil and related cost pressures, and we expect continued volatility throughout the balance of the year,” she said.
Wednesday’s report comes as the Federal Reserve is sharply divided over whether it should hike its key interest rate to combat inflation. The Fed kept its rate unchanged, at about 3.6%, at a meeting late last month. But the vote was 9-3, with three dissenters favoring a rate hike.
And at a July 29 news conference explaining the decision, chair Kevin Warsh was vague about the Fed’s next steps, in keeping with his focus on reining in the central bank’s previous willingness to signal whether it was prepared to raise or cut borrowing costs.
“If inflation continues to be elevated… interest rates could well be part of that solution,” he said. “But I wouldn’t say it’s in isolation.”
Long-term interest rates rose after Warsh’s comments, suggesting investors worried that inflation could worsen in the coming months and the Fed might not lift borrowing costs to fight rising prices.
Complicating matters, the government said last week that employers had cut jobs in July, a sign of potential economic weakness. The Fed typically avoids rate hikes when hiring is faltering, because higher borrowing costs could slow the economy further.
Türkiye’s pharma industry, one of the leading in the region and Europe, has seen a notable increase in R&D spending over the 2020-2024 period, according to a report on Tuesday.
The pharmaceutical industry’s R&D expenditures increased 8.3 times between 2020 and 2024, rising from TL 676.2 million (about $14.2 million in current prices) to TL 5.6 billion.
According to a compilation by Anadolu Agency (AA) from a recent review report published by the Turkish Competition Board (RK), the pharmaceutical industry is identified as a field requiring significant investment capital, employing advanced technology and carrying out intensive R&D activities in recent years.
With the advancement of technology, the pharmaceutical industry is developing products not only to treat diseases but also to improve the quality of life.
Companies that develop new products and market reference drugs protected by patents, and therefore place a strong emphasis on R&D activities, are defined as originator pharmaceutical companies.
Accordingly, the increase in R&D investments contributes to the introduction of new medicines and greater product diversity in the short term, while in the long term it creates the conditions for stronger competition among originator and generic drugs.
Global firms’ increasing share in market
According to the latest data included in the report, companies ranked among the world’s top 50 pharmaceutical companies by sales last year accounted for 88% of the U.S. pharmaceutical market and 49% of the Turkish market.
This indicates that globally operating pharmaceutical companies hold a significant share of the Turkish market, while domestic and other international companies continue to maintain strong positions.
Spending on pharmaceutical development has also been rising steadily, alongside drug sales.
Global pharmaceutical R&D spending increased by 3% in 2025 compared with the previous year, reaching $201.3 billion. The U.S. ranked first in global R&D spending, with $130.1 billion.
Increasing domestic production as key objective
The pharmaceutical sector in Türkiye also stands out for its high value-added production structure, skilled employment capacity and R&D-intensive activities.
Under the 12th Development Plan, the objectives in this area include increasing domestic production capacity, reducing dependence on foreign sources and strengthening the country’s capacity to develop innovative medicines.
The total size of Türkiye’s pharmaceutical market, which stood at TL 56 billion in 2020, reached TL 479 billion last year.
The country’s pharmaceutical R&D expenditures also increased steadily between 2020 and 2024. While the sector spent some TL 676.2 million on research and development activities in 2020, this figure rose by 723% to TL 5.6 billion in 2024.
In other words, the sector’s R&D spending increased 8.3-fold over the five-year period.
Domestically manufactured medicines surpass imported drugs
In addition to R&D, production and foreign trade have also drawn attention in the sector.
During the 2020-2025 period, domestically manufactured medicines accounted for a larger share of the overall market than imported medicines, both in terms of sales value and number of packages sold.
Global footwear brand Skechers has launched a new shoe featuring a hidden compartment enabling the integration of location-tracking technology, allowing parents to follow their children’s location.
The new “Where’s My Skechers?” model incorporates a dedicated compartment under the heel of the insole that has a screw-tight cover that hides the locator tag.
Tracking tags and mini screwdrivers are sold separately.
The feature is designed to help parents monitor their children’s whereabouts in environments where they can easily become separated, such as parks, shopping malls, school trips, airports and other crowded public venues.
Skechers said the product combines comfort with technology, enabling parents to check their child’s location through compatible devices such as Apple’s AirTag when needed while allowing children to move freely throughout the day.
AirTags, introduced in 2021, are primarily designed to help users locate personal belongings but have increasingly been incorporated into various accessories.
Senior U.S. and Canadian trade officials are working to finalize a potential agreement that could be presented to U.S. President Donald Trump as early as Monday, Canada’s CBC reported, citing unnamed sources.
The Tuesday report said that the joint proposal could reach Trump at least a day before an Aug. 19 deadline, giving him time to make a final decision before new 50% tariffs on hundreds of Canadian imports are set to take effect.
Canada-US Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer LeBlanc are meeting in Washington on Tuesday, their third face-to-face meeting in three weeks. LeBlanc’s trip was delayed after his flight was diverted to Montreal on Monday due to severe weather.
Canada’s chief trade negotiator, Janice Charette, also spent Monday in Washington meeting with U.S. trade officials. Neither LeBlanc nor Charette will comment on the negotiations, the report said.
Beyond seeking to prevent new tariffs, Canada wants relief from U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum, lumber, and autos, and hopes the talks will lead to an extension of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement.
Last month, Washington also announced additional tariffs of 50% on certain Canadian goods, covering products ranging from wine and hockey sticks to cement, according to the White House.
Four years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered an energy crisis, European countries are facing fresh questions about natural gas security as the war in the Middle East grinds on.
Surging prices due to Iran’s closure of the Straits of Hormuz are keeping liquefied natural gas (LNG) stocks unusually low, with winter just months away.
That raises the spectre of both supply difficulties and prices remaining well above pre-crisis levels, just as colder Continental weather drives up demand.
Stockpiles slump
Besides its use in heating and producing electricity, gas also powers many factories across Europe.
Summer is traditionally when energy firms take advantage of lower prices to fill LNG storage tanks, preparing for higher winter demand.
In a typical year, storage sites would be filled to “around 75% to 80%,” said Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a researcher at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.
Currently, the level is just 58% – the lowest since 2021 – according to Gas Infrastructure Europe, an industry association cited by the resources consulting firm Kpler.
Why?
“The European Union ended last winter with underground gas storage at only 28%, significantly lower than in previous years,” said Ronald Pinto, an analyst at Kpler First.
European imports were curtailed by the U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran, which led Tehran to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz to Gulf tanker traffic.
That halted gas shipments from Qatar, a key European supplier, driving up prices of contracts for future delivery, the main way of buying LNG on global markets.
“Italy, Poland and Belgium, contracted buyers of Qatari LNG, have borne the direct losses, as they have been unable to import any Qatari LNG volumes since April 2 – the date on which Italy received its last vessel loaded with Qatari LNG,” Pinto said.
Pricing pain
European buyers had hoped prices would ease by summer, allowing them to fill storage tanks later for less.
The Dutch TTF contract – the benchmark for European gas – for September delivery is currently trading between 55 euros ($63.4) and 58 euros per megawatt-hour.
The cost was just 30 euros before the Middle East war, and as low as 15-20 euros before the war in Ukraine.
An EU Commission spokesperson expressed confidence that filling storage tanks to 80% of capacity “is sufficient to secure winter supply and it is technically achievable.”
Europe has significantly ramped up its import capacity since the war in Ukraine, which prompted it to slash its Russian gas supplies.
Russia still supplies around 12% of the bloc’s gas imports, according to the European Council, but by the end of 2027 it will ban them completely.
“It is also worth noting that EU gas demand has decreased by 17% compared to pre-crisis levels” before 2022, the spokesperson added.
Austerity in store?
Analysts are not so sanguine.
“Supply risks to Europe remain elevated amid reduced LNG availability from the Middle East,” Rystad Energy analyst Antonia Syn said in a recent market update.
Gas infrastructure routinely experiences breakdowns or technical disruptions that halt flows.
And severe cold in the United States – now Europe’s biggest single supplier – could divert its supplies to domestic buyers.
Asian countries that usually buy from Gulf suppliers could also turn to U.S. or other sources, driving up prices to painful levels for European buyers.
So the longer Europe waits to fill up storage sites, the bigger the risks.
“We believe this wait-and-see approach has kept TTF prices from reflecting a scenario of extreme gas scarcity during the winter period,” said Pinto at Kpler First.
He expects average monthly prices to remain at 55 to 62 euros per MW/h through the rest of the year.
“For now we’re seeing LNG go more to Asia than to us, because prices are even higher there,” Corbeau said.
“If stocks are down, if the winter is rough and some other problem happens, we’ll have to start thinking about conservation measures,” she warned, as was the case across Europe in 2022.
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