U.S. tariff negotiators appeared reluctant to lower levies on cars, steel and aluminium in a recent meeting with Japanese counterparts - a stance that made the Japanese side feel that cooperation could be difficult, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Friday, Reuters reported. U.S. negotiators including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Japan's top trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa and other Japanese officials in Washington on Thursday and presented a proposed framework for a trade agreement, the paper said.

Small-value packages shipped to the US from China will no longer be exempted from tariffs starting Friday, when President Donald Trump’s move against an exception he called a “big scam” takes effect, Bloomberg News reported. The decision to end the so-called “de minimis” exception is expected to have wide-ranging effects on American consumers who have increasingly purchased cheap clothing, household goods and other products from discount Chinese marketplaces such as Temu and Shein Group Ltd. It could also deal a heavy blow to independent online sellers who rely on Chinese imports.

The two brands sold 3,269 and 757 plugin-hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), respectively, in the bloc in March, up from near zero sales in July 2024 when provisional tariffs were first introduced, research firm Rho Motion said in a report. EU tariffs of up to 45.3% on Chinese-built battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) came into full effect in November to prevent a flood of cheap cars. Facing disruption from U.S. tariffs, the EU and China are negotiating a relaxation of the European levies.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Bengaluru on Thursday once again deferred its order in a petition seeking initiation of insolvency proceedings against hyperlocal delivery platform Dunzo, BarAndBench.com reported. This is the third time the tribunal has postponed pronouncing the order. A coram of Judicial Member Sunil Kumar Aggarwal and Technical Member Radha Krishna Sreepada cited time constraints, stating: “We have been sitting till 5:30 PM, we have not been able to finalise the order.

The Bank of Japan kept interest rates steady and sharply cut its growth forecasts on Thursday, suggesting uncertainty surrounding U.S. tariffs and the hit to exports could keep policy in a holding pattern for some time, Reuters reported. But the central bank projected inflation would stay roughly on course to hit its 2% target in coming years, a sign that risks from U.S. tariffs could delay, but not derail, its rate hike plans.

South Korea’s exports unexpectedly expanded for a third consecutive month in April, even as President Trump’s sweeping tariffs have started to hurt international trade, the Wall Street Journal reported. Exports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy rose 3.7% to $58.21 billion from a year earlier, following a revised 3.0% gain in March, according to preliminary data released by the trade ministry on Thursday. Shipments of computer chips and smartphones remained strong, rising 17% and 61%, respectively, and offsetting the decline in auto exports, which took a hit from Trump’s levies.

Thailand's economy is expected to encounter temporary "air pockets" due to the impact of tariffs, the finance minister said on Thursday, and the country plans to negotiate to align its tariffs more closely with those of its trade competitors, Reuters reported. "No matter how much the tariff will end up, if it is at an equal level and equal to our competitors, it will not affect us," Pichai Chunhavajira said at a ministry event. "With our proposal, we should be at a point where we would get what we want," he added. Thailand is among Southeast Asian nations hardest hit by U.S.

China’s manufacturing activity fell more than expected to a near two-year low, sliding into contractionary territory in April as the escalating trade war with the U.S. hurts bilateral trade, CNBC.com reported. The official purchasing managers’ index came in at 49.0 in April, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday, falling below the 50-level threshold, which determines expansion from contraction, for the first time since January.

China's solar manufacturers reported losses this week as U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war put further pressure on demand in an industry where top manufacturers were already facing low prices and tariffs on exports to the United States, Reuters reported. Top producers Longi Green Energy and JinkoSolar both reported a net loss of 1.4 billion yuan ($193 million) for the first quarter, while losses for peers JA Solar and Trina Solar totaled 1.6 billion yuan and 1.3 billion yuan, respectively.