Headlines

GAC Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, a joint venture between Stellantis and China's Guangzhou Automobile Group said on Tuesday it has been declared bankrupt, Reuters reported. The joint venture posted images of a ruling issued by a court in China's Hunan province declaring the bankruptcy, alongside its announcement, in a social media post. Read more.

Walk down the aisles of a Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods Market in the U.S., and chances are many of the piles of oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit will be labeled “Produce of South Africa,” Bloomberg reported. They have become a staple in the U.S. — the world’s largest citrus importer — especially during the off-season summer months when in the southern hemisphere the South African winter harvest is at its peak. But now, those supplies are threatened by a potential 31% tariff President Donald Trump has slapped on the country.

Australia's central bank on Tuesday left its cash rate steady at 3.85%, a shock for markets that had confidently wagered on a cut, saying the majority of the board wanted to wait for more information to confirm inflation was slowing, Reuters reported. Traders were quick to send the Australian dollar racing up 0.8% to $0.6543, while three-year bond futures extended earlier losses and fell 10 ticks to 96.60. The swift moves in markets imply around an 88% chance the cash rate would be cut to 3.60% at its Aug. 12 meeting, and now favours rates bottoming at 3.10% rather than 2.85%.

The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan in the first half of 2025 rose to the highest level in 11 years, with those hurt by a labor shortage showing a notable increase, a survey by a credit research company showed Tuesday, Japan Today reported. The failures involving debts of at least 10 million yen were up 1.2 percent from the same period a year earlier, rising for the fourth consecutive year and reaching their highest level since 2014, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.

Chinese businesses and investors are primed for the yuan to stay steady for now and eventually depreciate as U.S. trade tensions drag on, and a string of measures and hints from monetary authorities suggest they may be on the money, Reuters reported. A growing pile of foreign exchange deposits at banks and a rise in currency swaps show Chinese corporates and households are wagering they can exchange their dollars for more yuan if they wait. That conviction, in the face of the U.S.

The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it would seek to limit Chinese and foreign purchases of American farmland, citing a threat to national security, the New York Times reported. In a seven-point national security plan, the Agriculture Department said it would enhance public disclosures of foreign ownership of farmland, enact steeper penalties for false filings and work with Congress and states to ban purchases from foreign adversaries.

Sentiment in Japan's service sector improved slightly in June, a government survey showed on Tuesday, as solid demand for summer clothing and leisure offset the gloom from U.S. tariffs, Reuters reported. But corporate bankruptcy cases in the first half of this year rose 2.4% from a year earlier to hit a 12-year high of 5,003, a survey by private think tank Teikoku Databank showed, as rising raw material and labour costs hit margins. The batch of data highlight the fragile nature of Japan's economy, which is expected to see the strain from U.S.

Chile, by far the biggest shipper of copper into the U.S., is waiting for details to emerge following President’s Donald Trump’s bombshell comments on tariffs, Bloomberg reported. Trump sent shock-waves through the global copper industry on Tuesday by telling reporters that he would be slapping a 50% levy on copper imports — about double what the market was pricing in. Chile — and particularly state-owned Codelco — would be the most affected producer given the country accounts for about 500,000 metric tons of the total of 700,000 tons of refined metal the US imports a year.

Independent packaging manufacturer Krystals has entered into administration and ceased trading, resulting in the loss of approximately 80 jobs, GlobalData reported. Printweek reported that the company, based in Lincoln and Ellesmere Port in the U.K., was acquired by its most recent owners in 2008. Krystals operated a blow moulding plant for pharmaceutical containers, which it described as one of the most environmentally friendly in Europe, producing millions of units weekly.

Chinese government advisers are stepping up calls to make the household sector's contribution to broader economic growth a top priority at Beijing's upcoming five-year policy plan, as trade tensions and deflation threaten the outlook, Reuters reported. Leaders are gathering proposals for their 15th five-year plan, a voluminous document that lays out priorities up to 2030. The plan is expected to be endorsed at a December Communist Party conference and approved by parliament in March.