Donald Trump faces fresh hurdles in his push to secure major investment pledges from Asian allies, after South Korea said Washington’s terms were unrealistic and a contender to lead Japan’s ruling party hinted at the possibility of reviewing the agreement, Bloomberg News reported. “We are not able to pay $350 billion in cash,” South Korea’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said in a Channel A News television interview on Saturday evening, referring to Seoul’s investment pledge with Washington.

The U.S. on Monday cracked down on companies in China and other countries that use subsidiaries or other foreign affiliates to get around curbs on chipmaking equipment and other goods and technology, Reuters reported. The Commerce Department issued a new rule expanding its restricted export list, known as the Entity List, to automatically include subsidiaries owned 50 percent or more by a company on the list, according to a posting in the U.S. Federal Register. The action greatly increases the number of companies that require licenses to receive American goods and services.

India said on Friday its officials held “constructive” talks with U.S. counterparts during a visit to Washington this week, and both sides agreed to continue discussions aimed at concluding a mutually beneficial trade deal soon, Reuters reported. "Both sides exchanged views on possible contours of the deal," the commerce ministry said in a statement. Read more.

In the days leading up to his announcement of a new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick summoned to the White House a group of President Trump’s allies from anti-immigration groups to sell them on his idea, the Wall Street Journal reported. Lutnick, who is personally close to Trump, had for months been working on a different pet project: a “gold card” that would provide a path to citizenship to wealthy foreigners willing to pay $1 million.

The governments of Britain and the United States will set up a body to reduce red tape for firms seeking to access capital markets on both sides of the Atlantic and improve cooperation on crypto assets, Britain's finance ministry said on Monday, Reuters reported. The Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future will report back within 180 days on ways to enhance collaboration in the short term and on longer-term options, including in wholesale digital markets, the Treasury said. Creation of the taskforce was approved by British finance minister Rachel Reeves and U.S.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday announced the Trump administration is looking at options to provide Argentina a financial lifeline as the country struggles to overhaul its economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. Bessent in a series of posts on X laid out the options administration officials are reviewing to backstop Argentina if the country under President Javier Milei’s leadership can’t overcome its financial woes. “These options may include, but are not limited to, swap lines, direct currency purchases, and purchases of U.S.

President Donald Trump’s new $100,000 fee for high-skill visa holders only applies to new applicants — not current visa holders who may be on travel outside of the U.S. — according to the White House, Politico reported. The president’s H-1B announcement on Friday immediately spurred chaos, with companies and immigration lawyers warning travelers to return to the U.S. before midnight on Sunday, when the new policy is scheduled to kick in.

A U.S. judge upheld the validity of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA's 2020 bonds on Thursday, in a blow to the company, which had argued that the defaulted bonds were not properly issued, Reuters reported. The bonds are secured by a majority stake in U.S. refiner Citgo , which is owned by PDVSA. The company defaulted on the bonds in 2019, putting the refiner at risk of seizure by creditors. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla in Manhattan ruled that the bonds were indeed properly issued under Venezuelan law.

Ocean shipping companies say importers and exporters won’t have to pay surcharges when new fees are imposed next month on Chinese ships at U.S. seaports, the Wall Street Journal reported. Some businesses fear price increases are coming anyway. Peter Friedmann, executive director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, which represents American farmers, said ocean carriers can’t pass on extra costs today because trade flows are falling and carriers are fighting for market share. They will have to pass on those new costs eventually, he said.