The China Shipowners' Association opposes a U.S. proposal to slap hefty port entry fees on ocean cargo carriers that own or have ordered vessels from China, saying it violates international rules and U.S. laws, according to a statement seen by Reuters on Thursday. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration aims to partially pay for an American shipbuilding comeback with those fees, according to a draft executive order seen by Reuters. The CSA's members include China's COSCO Shipping, which is expected to be among the hardest hit by the fees proposed by the U.S.

The commerce ministry of India on Thursday assured domestic exporters, particularly those in labour-intensive sectors like leather and textiles, to protect their interests amid the US tariff threats, industry officials said, the Economic Times of India reported. The issues related to the country's exports were discussed during a virtual meeting chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. Sectors like steel flagged concerns over the possible impact of US tariffs on exports.

A Thai business group on Thursday urged Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to negotiate with the United States and consider lowering import taxes on U.S. goods, as the government met with the private sector to discuss U.S. trade policy, Reuters reported. The meeting comes ahead of a deadline U.S. President Donald Trump has set next month for federal agencies to complete comprehensive reviews of a range of trade issues, including analyses of persistent U.S. trade deficits.

Singapore prosecutors told a court on Thursday that a case in which Singapore-based firms have been accused of fraudulently supplying U.S. servers to Malaysia involves transactions worth $390 million, Reuters reported. Three men have been charged with committing fraud against Dell and Super Micro by falsely representing where the servers would end up. Singapore media have linked the case to the possible transfer of Nvidia's artificial intelligence chips to Chinese AI firm DeepSeek.

Zhengzhou Exchange on Tuesday raised the trading margin requirements for some rapeseed meal futures contracts to 9% from 7% after Beijing's 100% tariff on Canadian imports triggered a two-day rally that pushed prices to a five-month high, Reuters reported. The most active rapeseed meal futures contract surged 7.23% to close at 2,684 yuan per metric ton, building on a 6% gain in the previous session, to its highest since September 2024. The new trading margin requirements will be effective from settlement on March 12.

Japan’s trade minister has failed to win an immediate exemption from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff campaign even as he doubled down on the request in his first in-person discussions with U.S. counterparts, Bloomberg News reported. "We have requested that Japan should not be subject to the tariff measures that the U.S. government has announced so far,” trade minister Yoji Muto said.

The Japanese economy grew at a slower pace than initially estimated in the October-December period, sending an unwelcome sign of fragility as the trade outlook darkens, the Wall Street Journal reported. Japan’s real gross domestic product expanded 2.2% on an annualized basis in the final quarter of 2024, compared with the 2.8% growth seen in preliminary estimates released in February, government data showed Tuesday. The economy grew 0.6% from the previous quarter.

Investors in Japanese corporate bonds are increasingly seeking protection against possible credit deterioration when an issuer becomes a takeover target, Bloomberg News reported. Change of Control covenants — which give bondholders certain rights to redeem the debt before maturity if the borrower has a significant change in ownership structure — have until now been very rarely seen in the ¥100 trillion ($680 billion) Japanese credit market.