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US urges Australia to abandon news payment plan for tech giants
Sydney (AFP) - The United States has urged Australia to abandon its plan to force Google and Facebook to pay media outlets for their news content, saying there could be "long-lasting negative consequences" for consumers and companies. Australia wants to force the US tech giants to pay local media organisations for hosting news content or face millions of dollars in fines, in one of the most aggressive moves globally to check their power. It will apply to Facebook's "News Feed" and Google searches, prompting the digital firms to threaten to limit the services they offer Australians. In a submis...
AFP
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Relaxing China tariffs would help US economy, report says
Washington (AFP) - Reducing tariffs on China by even a "moderate" amount would benefit the US economy, according to a study by a business council and an economics firm. The report released Thursday came as the United States awaits the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday, who is expected to detail his trade policy the following day. Commercial ties between Washington and Beijing deteriorated under outgoing president Donald Trump, who launched a trade war against China that was partially resolved with an agreement struck early last year. With both his Democrats and the opposit...
AFP
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US blacklists Xiaomi and other Chinese companies
A few days before the end of US President Donald Trump's term in office, the United States has imposed further restrictions on Chinese companies. Among others, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi was blacklisted by the US Department of Defence on Thursday for alleged military ties. The company's shares subsequently plummeted by more than 10 per cent on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Suppliers' share prices were also affected. China condemned Washington's move on Friday. "The Chinese side will take necessary measures to protect the interests of Chinese enterprises," a Beijing Foreign Mini...
DPA
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US blacklists Xiaomi and other Chinese companies
A few days before the end of US President Donald Trump's term in office, the United States has imposed further restrictions on Chinese companies. Among others, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi was blacklisted by the US Department of Defence on Thursday for alleged military ties. The company's shares subsequently plummeted by more than 10 per cent on the Hong Kong stock exchange. China condemned Washington's move on Friday. "The Chinese side will take necessary measures to protect the interests of Chinese enterprises," a Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. In total, the US Dep...
DPA
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British PM Johnson admits teething problems at customs border
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has claimed trade in Northern Ireland is "flowing smoothly" but admitted there have been "teething problems" following the end of the post-Brexit transition period of trade with the European Union. During a committee hearing with lawmakers on Wednesday, where he was quizzed about the end of the transition period, Johnson said exporters were "benefitting from the unfettered access to Great Britain and Northern Ireland." "I'm not going to deny there are teething problems, and there are issues we need to sort out, there are changes involved, but the deal has b...
DPA
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US to seize all Xinjiang tomato, cotton imports
Washington (AFP) - The United States will seize all imports of tomato and cotton products from China's Xinjiang region due to the use of forced labor, the Customs and Border protection agency announced Wednesday. CBP issued a "withhold release order" on those imports "based on information that reasonably indicates the use of detainee or prison labor and situations of forced labor," it said. It was the latest in a series of withhold release orders issued on products originating in China's huge far-west region, where the government has forced more than one million ethnic Uighur Muslims and othe...
AFP
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EU chair Portugal wants bloc to wrap up Mercosur trade deal
Portugal, the current EU presidency holder, is pushing to finalize the stalled trade deal with the Latin American Mercosur group, saying that the bloc's credibility is on the line. "We have an obligation," Foreign Minister Augusto Silva told reporters on Thursday. "We said to our friends from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, that after two decades of negotiation, we were ready to make an agreement." The trade deal - agreed in June 2019 but not yet ratified - would create the world's largest free trade zone, spanning the EU and four Mercosur states. But deforestation in the Amazon rainf...
DPA
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Minimal disruption at British border after final split with EU
Disruptions at the border between Britain and France have been minimal at the beginning of the first working week since Britain left the European Union's internal market and customs union. The situation remains relaxed, a spokeswoman for the prefecture responsible for the northern French port city of Calais told dpa on Monday. Traffic had also been smooth over New Year, she added. According to the authorities, traffic is typically slow at this time of year. Britain left the EU internal market and customs union on January 1, meaning routine customs controls at the border. Much of Britain's trad...
DPA
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With Brexit complete, Britain and the EU begin new era of relations
Four-and-a-half years after a British referendum on membership in the European Union, Brexit is finally reality after Britain left the single market at the stroke of midnight CET (2300 GMT) on New Year's Eve. Never before had an EU member state filed for divorce. The separation took years of messy negotiations before finally, at the last moment, a breakthrough trade deal worth 660 billion pounds (900 billion dollars) was struck on Christmas Eve. Writing in the Telegraph newspaper on Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson described it as a "big win for both sides of the Channel." "For us, it mean...
DPA
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Britain has left the EU single market - here's what will change
In a historic first, former EU member state Britain has left the bloc's single market and customs union after the expiration of the 11-month transition period. Four-and-half years after the referendum in Britain, Brexit is finally reality. It took months of intense negotiations, but Britain and the European Union eventually agreed on a 1,246-page Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), applied provisionally as of Friday. Here is what the deal means for whom: 1) Businesses The two sides agreed on an unprecedented zero quotas, zero tariffs scheme for goods that comply with so-called rules of orig...
DPA
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