Economy
US, China agree on framework toward resolving their trade disputes
Senior U.S. and Chinese negotiators have agreed on a framework to get their trade negotiations back on track after a series of disputes that threatened to derail them, both sides said at the end of two days of talks in London, which wrapped up late Tuesday.
The meetings appeared to focus on resolving disputes over mineral and technology exports that had shaken a fragile truce on trade reached in Geneva last month. It was not clear whether progress was made on the more fundamental differences over China’s sizeable trade surplus with the United States.
“First, we had to get sort of the negativity out and now we can go forward,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters after the meetings.
Asian stock markets rose Wednesday after the agreement was announced.
The talks followed a phone call last week between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to try to calm the waters.
Li Chenggang, a vice minister of commerce and China’s international trade representative, said the two sides had agreed in principle on a framework for implementing the consensus reached on the phone call and at the talks in Geneva, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Further details, including any plans for a potential next round of talks, were not immediately available.
Li and Wang Wentao, China’s commerce minister, were part of the delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng. They met with Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at Lancaster House, a 200-year-old mansion near Buckingham Palace.
Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator, said the disputes had frittered away 30 of the 90 days the two sides have to try to resolve their disputes.
They agreed in Geneva to a 90-day suspension of most of the 100%-plus tariffs they had imposed on each other in an escalating trade war that sparked fears of recession. The World Bank, citing a rise in trade barriers, cut its projections for U.S. and global economic growth on Tuesday.
“The U.S. and China lost valuable time in restoring their Geneva agreements,” said Cutler, now vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “Now, only sixty days remain to address issues of concern, including unfair trade practices, excess capacity, transshipment and fentanyl.”
Since the Geneva talks, the United States and China have exchanged angry words over advanced semiconductors that power artificial intelligence, visas for Chinese students at American universities and rare earth minerals that are vital to carmakers and other industries.
China, the world’s biggest producer of rare earths, has signaled it may speed up issuing export licenses for the elements. Beijing, in turn, wants the U.S. to lift restrictions on Chinese access to the technology used to make advanced semiconductors.
Lutnick said that resolving the rare earths issue is a fundamental part of the agreed-upon framework, and that the U.S. will remove measures it had imposed in response. He did not specify which measures.
“When they approve the licenses, then you should expect that our export implementation will come down as well,” he said.
Cutler said it would be unprecedented for the U.S. to negotiate on its export controls, which she described as an irritant that China has been raising for nearly 20 years.
“By doing so, the U.S. has opened a door for China to insist on adding export controls to future negotiating agendas,” she said.
In Washington, a federal appeals court agreed Tuesday to let the government keep collecting tariffs that Trump has imposed not just on China but also on other countries worldwide while the administration appeals a ruling against his signature trade policy.
Trump said earlier that he wants to “open up China,” the world’s dominant manufacturer, to U.S. products.
“If we don’t open up China, maybe we won’t do anything,” Trump said at the White House. “But we want to open up China.”
As the holy month of Ramadan approaches, dates are once again filling market stalls, bazaars and supermarket shelves across Türkiye, with official figures pointing to steadily rising demand and a sharp increase in both exports and imports in recent years.
For Muslims, Ramadan is a period of fasting from dawn to sunset marked by religious reflection, worship, charity and good deeds. This year’s Ramadan is due to start this Thursday.
Socially, it often brings families and friends together in festive gatherings around meals to break their fast.
And dates, often referred to as a “blessed” fruit, are an indispensable part of this meal known as “iftar” in Arabic. Muslims also have a predawn meal, called “suhoor,” to hydrate and nurture their bodies ahead of the daily fast.
Known for their high fiber and natural sugar content, dates provide quick energy after long fasting hours and are rich in minerals such as potassium, magnesium, iron and selenium.
Imports rise steadily
Data compiled from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) show Türkiye’s date imports have climbed steadily in recent years.
Türkiye imported 49,040 tons of dates in 2021, 44,468 tons in 2022, 54,459 tons in 2023, 63,630 tons in 2024 and 67,093 tons in 2025, bringing the five-year total to 278,691 tons.
The import bill increased even more sharply, rising from $52.8 million in 2021 and $51.6 million in 2022 to $73.4 million in 2023, before surging to $103 million in 2024 and $133.7 million in 2025.
Overall, Türkiye spent about $414.5 million on date imports over the past five years.
Although dates are consumed year-round, demand peaks during Ramadan, when households typically buy in bulk and retailers expand offerings.
Exports hit 5-year high
Alongside growing imports, Türkiye has strengthened its role as a regional hub for processing, packaging and re-exporting dates. Between 2021 and 2025, exports totaled 48,847 tons worth $125.1 million.
Export revenues stood at $21.7 million in 2021, dipped slightly to $19.6 million in 2022, then rose to $23.6 million in 2023 and $28.1 million in 2024 before reaching a five-year high of $32 million in 2025.
In 2025, the top destinations for Türkiye’s date exports were the United States with $14.2 million, the United Kingdom with $6.7 million and Australia with $4 million.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar; the month cycles through the seasons. The start of the month traditionally depends on the sighting of the crescent moon.
The daily fast includes abstaining from all food and drink from dawn to sunset.
Muslims see various meanings and lessons in observing the fast. It’s regarded as an act of worship to attain God-conscious piety and one of submission to God. The devout see benefits, including practicing self-restraint, growing closer to God, cultivating gratitude and empathizing with people who are poor and hungry.
Japanese economic growth fell quite short of market expectations in the last quarter of 2025, official data showed Monday, adding to pressure on Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to stimulate activity after her recent landslide election win.
Fresh off a sweeping election victory, Takaichi’s administration is preparing to ramp up investment through targeted public spending to shore up consumption and revitalize economic growth.
Monday’s data also brings sharp focus to the challenge at hand for policymakers at a time when the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has reiterated its pledge to keep raising interest rates and normalize monetary settings from years of ultralow borrowing costs amid persistent inflation and a weak yen.
“PM Takaichi’s efforts to reflate the economy via looser fiscal policy look prescient,” said Marcel Thieliant, head of Asia-Pacific at Capital Economics.
Gross domestic product (GDP) in the world’s fourth-largest economy increased an annualized 0.2% in the October-December quarter, government data showed, well short of a median estimate of a 1.6% gain in a Reuters poll. It barely scraped back to growth from a larger revised 2.6% contraction in the previous quarter.
The reading translates into a quarterly rise of 0.1%, also weaker than the median estimate of a 0.4% uptick.
For the whole of 2025, Japan’s economy grew 1.1%, after a 0.2% contraction in 2024, the data showed.
“It shows that the economy’s recovery momentum is not very strong,” Meiji Yasuda Research Institute economist Kazutaka Maeda said. “Consumption, capital expenditure and exports – areas we hoped would drive the economy – just haven’t been as strong as we expected.”
The surprisingly soft momentum will keep investors on alert for Takaichi’s campaign pledge to suspend a consumption tax, an issue that sparked turmoil in Japanese markets worried about fiscal slippage in a nation with the heaviest debt burden in the developed world.
Takaichi became Japan’s first woman prime minister in October and called snap elections for Feb. 8. The vote saw her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) win a historic two-thirds majority in the lower house.
“In fact, sluggish economic activity increases the chances that Takaichi will not only press ahead with suspending the sales tax on food but enact a supplementary budget during the first half of the fiscal year that starts in April, rather than wait until the end of this year,” Capital Economics’ Thieliant said.
In November, Takaichi’s government pushed through a 21.3-trillion-yen ($139-billion) stimulus package aimed at boosting growth. It included energy subsidies, cash handouts, and investment incentives in key fields like semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
It also included funds for expanded spending on defense, as China increases military activities in the wider region. Her spending plans, however, have worried investors, and the latest GDP data suggests they did begin to fully materialize as consumption remained dim, according to analysts.
Japanese stocks stuttered in the wake of the GDP data, while bonds were subdued.
Slower rate hikes?
Analysts, meanwhile, also project Japan will continue to expand at a gradual pace this year, though the fourth quarter’s weak outcome suggests the economy might struggle to fire on all cylinders.
“Whether the economy can achieve sustainable growth really depends on whether real wages can firmly return to positive growth,” Shinichiro Kobayashi, principal economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting, said.
A survey this month by the Japan Center for Economic Research showed 38 economists forecast an average annualized GDP growth of 1.04% in the first quarter and 1.12% in the second quarter.
Economists say the latest GDP report is unlikely to affect the Bank of Japan’s policy decisions, but Takaichi’s historic election win has heightened market attention to whether the dovish premier will renew her calls for interest rates to be kept low.
“Although GDP posted positive growth this time, the momentum was weak, and with the need to assess the impact of the December rate hike, the likelihood of an additional hike in the near term appears to have receded,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute. The country’s inflation dynamic underscored the policy tensions between the government and the central bank.
Mitsubishi UFJ’s Kobayashi, for instance, expects the central bank to prioritize bringing inflation to heel.
“Rather than this rate hike causing the economy to stall, the BOJ’s focus is likely to be on how to contain inflation,” he said.
Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of economic output, rose 0.1% in October-December, matching market estimates.
It cooled from the 0.4% rise in the previous quarter, indicating that persistently high food costs remain a drag on household spending.
Trump factor
Capital spending, a key driver of private demand-led growth, also rose at a slow pace of 0.2% in the fourth quarter, versus a rise of 0.8% in the Reuters poll.
To be sure, historically, capex has been a volatile data set and future revisions could point to the economy carrying more momentum into 2026 than initial estimates suggest.
That still leaves the economy with a lot of catching up to do, especially as its key manufacturing industry struggles to adapt to a protectionist U.S. administration under President Donald Trump.
Indeed, net external demand, or exports minus imports, contributed nothing to fourth quarter growth, versus a 0.3-point drag in the July-September period.
Exports did post a milder drop after the U.S. formalized a baseline 15% tariff on nearly all Japanese imports, down from 27.5% on autos and initially threatened 25% on most other goods.
“The impact of tariffs appears to have peaked in July-September, but judging from the latest results, there is at least some possibility that firms will continue to take a somewhat cautious stance going forward,” Meiji Yasuda’s Maeda said.
Türkiye’s central government budget balance registered a deficit of TL 214.5 billion ($4.9 billion) in January, official figures from the Treasury and Finance Ministry showed on Monday.
That compared with a shortfall of TL 139.3 billion in the same month a year earlier.
The budget revenues in January rose by 55% to TL 1.42 trillion, mainly supported by rising tax revenues.
Expenditures also rose by nearly 55% year-over-year to almost TL 1.64 trillion, according to the ministry.
Türkiye’s tax revenues were at TL 1.18 trillion, the data showed.
Non-interest expenditures rose 32% to TL 1.18 trillion, while interest rate payments rose sharply by 180% to TL 456.4 billion.
Excluding interest rate payments, the budget posted a surplus of TL 241.8 billion, the data showed. That compared to a surplus of 23.8 billion in the same period of 2025.
Trade volume between Türkiye and the Kingdom of Morocco exceeded $5 billion for the first time last year, a senior official said on Monday, highlighting accelerating economic ties between the two countries.
Mohammed Ali Lazreq, Morocco’s ambassador to Ankara, said bilateral relations in recent years have gained “tangible momentum,” particularly in economic and commercial fields, driven by deep-rooted ties and high-level political will.
“Trade volume has, for the first time since the free trade agreement entered into force, surpassed the $5 billion level,” Lazreq told Anadolu Agency (AA).
According to data from the Turkish Trade Ministry, bilateral trade exceeded $4.9 billion in 2024. Figures from the Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TIM) showed Türkiye’s exports to Morocco rose above $3.9 billion in 2025.
The upward trend has continued into 2026, with exports in January increasing 18.7% year-over-year to more than $305 million.
Efforts to improve trade balance
Lazreq noted that while the growing volume reflects strong demand for Turkish goods and services, it also reveals a trade imbalance in Türkiye’s favor, pointing to a widening Moroccan trade deficit.
He said Rabat has begun consultations with Turkish authorities to develop mechanisms and a roadmap aimed at restoring a healthier balance in bilateral trade.
Meetings held in Ankara and Rabat have focused on boosting trade momentum while addressing structural imbalances, he added.
Investment appeal
The ambassador said Morocco remains an attractive destination for international investors, citing political and macroeconomic stability, strategic geographic positioning and modern infrastructure, alongside reforms and incentives designed to support investment.
He noted that Morocco aims to position itself as a competitive industrial and logistics hub linking Europe and Africa, offering favorable conditions for foreign companies, including Turkish firms, through tax incentives and investment support mechanisms.
Administrative procedures for company establishment and permits have also been simplified, particularly through regional investment centers.
Morocco’s key import sectors include automotive, textiles, energy and industrial raw materials, Lazreq said.
Call for deeper cooperation
Lazreq emphasized the importance of building a balanced, sustainable economic partnership based on mutual benefit and expanding bilateral investment opportunities.
He also highlighted Morocco’s preparations to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup with Spain and Portugal, saying the large-scale event would generate new investment opportunities through major infrastructure and development projects.
“We invite Turkish companies to explore investment opportunities in Morocco and benefit from the country’s logistical proximity, trade openness and sectoral incentives,” he said.
The founders of Turkish food and grocery delivery startup Getir are reportedly suing Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company for at least $700 million, claiming the fund failed to hand over promised assets when the company was restructured, according to the Financial Times (FT) on Monday.
Getir’s co-founders, Nazım Salur and Serkan Borançılı, claim that they have “suffered significant loss” after Mubadala allegedly reneged on a 2024 agreement to transfer a group of assets to them, including a valuable tech finance app, Getir Finance, according to a lawsuit filed with London’s High Court on Friday, the report said.
The breach-of-contract claim comes as Mubadala and Uber announced last week that Getir’s food delivery business in Türkiye was being sold to Uber for $335 million.
Founded in Istanbul in 2015, Getir was one of the pioneers of the food and grocery delivery businesses that boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was valued close to $12 billion in 2022 and has seen quick expansion into several European markets and the U.S., but slowing demand for delivery services around the world after the pandemic has seen it significantly scale back its operations.
In June 2024, the company said that it had agreed on a restructuring with Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala to lead a $250 million cash injection and acquire majority control of its Turkish grocery operations.
Under the plans, the remaining assets would be housed in a standalone business, including its FreshDirect grocery service in New York, in which the founders would have a controlling stake.
However, Salur and Borançılı allege in the lawsuit that only the most unprofitable assets – FreshDirect and the online shopping platform n11 – were ever transferred.
They claim they are still owed assets such as Getir Finance, which was valued at $510 million last year, and that various Mubadala entities have conspired against them to breach the agreement, according to the FT, citing the lawsuit.
“The assets which were supposed to have been hived out and transferred to their control were never so transferred (save for the two most unprofitable and liability-laden entities),” lawyers for the founders said in the claim.
Instead, Mubadala made them an offer in December 2024 that “deviated considerably from the terms the parties had agreed […] and was on terms which were highly disadvantageous to the founders.”
In January 2025, Salur vowed to take legal action against the Emirati fund, suggesting that Mubadala “is completely breaching our binding agreement in June 2024 to split Getir into two groups.”
Mubadala declined to comment to FT. The sovereign wealth fund is yet to file a defense to the claim, the newspaper said.
Getir in Türkiye currently offers services in several categories, including market, food and water, while also having integrated the Getir Locals option, which offers users the ability to order from local markets such as butchers and flower shops. It has also integrated the BiTaksi service into the app, the ride-hailing company also founded by Salur, in 2013.
After a recent move to acquire the delivery arm of Türkiye’s Getir, Uber plans to roll out its delivery business into seven new European countries this year as it eyes expansion, according to a report on Sunday.
The expansion push comes as tech groups ramp up their efforts in the multibillion-euro food-delivery market, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Sunday.
Accordingly, the U.S.-based company, primarily known for its ride-hailing services, will launch services in markets including Czechia, Greece and Romania as part of a move it hopes will deliver an additional $1 billion in gross bookings over the next three years, the report said.
Susan Anderson, global head of delivery at Uber, told the newspaper it was time to “raise the bar, shake things up and deliver better value across the category.”
According to the report, the move will also see penetration into Austria, Denmark, Finland and Norway.
It also comes amid a wave of consolidation in the highly competitive European food delivery market. Several acquisitions took place last year.
Uber did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for further comment on Europe-related plans.
Türkiye operations
Earlier this month, Uber agreed to acquire the delivery arm of Türkiye’s Getir from Emirati-controlling shareholder Mubadala to expand its Turkish footprint.
Anderson said this would “complement” Uber’s existing operation, Trendyol Go, in the country.
“By bringing those two companies together, we’re able to continue to deliver to the restaurant merchants all the demand they’ve been used to, but also be able to consolidate and use our global tech within that market,” she told FT.
European expansion comes as Uber’s market share has continued to grow in its largest markets in Europe, including the U.K., Germany, France and Spain, the FT report said.
The push toward the food delivery segment also comes as Uber’s shares have come under pressure over the past few months, linked to investors’ concerns about the impact of rival groups expanding their driverless taxi services around the world.
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