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By Francesco Guarascio HANOI (Reuters) -European Union officials plan to press Vietnam on Friday to lift administrative barriers on EU goods, as the bloc’s trade deficit with Hanoi expands amid global trade tensions, according to two European officials and a draft document. After a tariff-slashing free trade agreement signed in 2019, Vietnam has become the …

As trade deficit grows, EU to urge Vietnam to remove barriers, sources say Read More »

HANOI (Reuters) -Vietnam’s prime minister said Hanoi was pursuing new trade deals this year to mitigate the impact of tariffs imposed on its goods by the United States, its largest market. The statement came days after estimates by the United Nations Development Programme showed U.S. duties risked slashing by up to one-fifth of Vietnam’s exports …

Vietnam PM seeks new trade deals to counter US tariff impact Read More »

By Ariba Shahid KARACHI (Reuters) -Diamond sets and a drone light show at a near-million-dollar wedding have become evidence for Pakistan’s tax authorities under a new “Lifestyle Monitoring Cell” tasked with scanning social media for lavish spenders, officials said. A team of 40 investigators from the country’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has started scouring Instagram, …

Diamonds and drones: Pakistan tax unit scans social media for evasion Read More »

By Kumar Tanishk (Reuters) -Australian miner Anson Resources signed an offtake deal with South Korea’s LG Energy Solution on Wednesday for the supply of battery-grade lithium carbonate, sending its shares nearly 25% higher. Under the agreement, the South Korean battery manufacturer will acquire up to 4,000 dry metric tons of lithium carbonate annually from Anson’s …

Australia’s Anson signs lithium supply deal with LG Energy Solution; shares soar Read More »

By Deepa Seetharaman ABILENE, Texas (Reuters) -OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank on Tuesday announced plans for five new artificial intelligence data centers in the United States to build out their ambitious Stargate project. U.S. President Donald Trump in January hosted top tech CEOs to launch Stargate, a private-sector initiative that plans to spend up to $500 …

OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank plan five new AI data centers for $500 billion Stargate project Read More »

BEIJING (Reuters) -In a landmark interpretation, China’s top court recently reinforced that workarounds between employers and workers to evade social insurance contributions are invalid, a move that both promises to fund depleted pension plans and threatens jobs and businesses. The response from some small business owners has been to offer new contracts without paying the …

Some Chinese firms pretend to comply with mandated social insurance payments as business struggles Read More »