The State Department is asking all US-based employees of Chinese state TV network CGTN to share personal details.

The United States had earlier this year marked five Chinese state media outlets, including CGTN, as Foreign Missions -- as extensions of Beijing's government and requiring them to comply with the same rules that govern foreign embassies and consulates.

This also comes in the wake of China announcing, in mid-March, that it would expel journalists from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, in a major escalation of tensions with the US.

Also, CGTN -- the international arm of Chinese state television -- segments have robustly defended China's response to the coronavirus in the face of Western criticism. It also has questioned the motives behind the critique.

The CGTN employees hence have been asked to fill out detailed questionnaires with personal information.

The five-page form, titled "State Department OFM (Office of Foreign Missions) Questionnaire," asks for employees' personal information as well as information about their spouses, children, and anyone else they live with, along with where the employee has worked for the past five years.

All CGTN employees, including those who are American citizens, have until Monday to complete the questionnaire.

CGTN has staff in more than 70 countries. Its bureaus employ both local and Chinese employees.

The five Chinese state media outlets labeled as foreign msisions -- CGTN, Xinhua, China Radio International, the China Daily and the People's Daily -- now also require US government approval to buy or lease office space.

The State Department is asking all US-based employees of Chinese state TV network CGTN to share personal details. The United States had earlier this year marked five Chinese state media outlets, including CGTN, as Foreign Missions -- as extensions of Beijing's government and requiring them to comply with the same rules that govern foreign embassies and consulates.

The State Department is asking all US-based employees of Chinese state TV network CGTN to share personal details. The United States had earlier this year marked five Chinese state media outlets, including CGTN, as Foreign Missions -- as extensions of Beijing's government and requiring them to comply with the same rules that govern foreign embassies and consulates. This also comes in the wake of China announcing, in mid-March, that it would expel journalists from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, in a major escalation of tensions with the US. Also, CGTN -- the international arm of Chinese state television -- segments have robustly defended China's response to the coronavirus in the face of Western criticism. It also has questioned the motives behind the critique. The CGTN employees hence have been asked to fill out detailed questionnaires with personal information. The five-page form, titled "State Department OFM (Office of Foreign Missions) Questionnaire," asks for employees' personal information as well as information about their spouses, children, and anyone else they live with, along with where the employee has worked for the past five years. All CGTN employees, including those who are American citizens, have until Monday to complete the questionnaire. CGTN has staff in more than 70 countries. Its bureaus employ both local and Chinese employees. The five Chinese state media outlets labeled as foreign msisions -- CGTN, Xinhua, China Radio International, the China Daily and the People's Daily -- now also require US government approval to buy or lease office space.

US asks nation-based employees of Chinese state media to share personal details

After China's Luckin coffee chain lied about financial transactions, the U.S. govt is planning to impose tougher regulations for Chinese companies listed in U.S. stock exchanges. WION's Executive Editor Palki Sharma Upadhyay gets you the story.

Gravitas: U.S. plans to delist Chinese companies

The US-China "Phase 1" trade deal reached in January is not falling apart and the two countries are still working to implement it, the White House`s top economic adviser said on Friday, but President Donald Trump added that he was not "thrilled" with the agreement.

Larry Kudlow told reporters at the White House the trade deal "is continuing," a day after Trump suggested he could cut ties with the world`s second-largest economy.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/wion-dispatch-us-unveils-plan-to-hold-china-accountable-for-covid-19-outbreak-298915">Also watch:&nbsp;WION Dispatch: US unveils plan to hold China accountable for COVID-19 outbreak&nbsp;</a>

In an interview with Fox Business Network broadcast on Thursday, Trump said he was very disappointed with China's failure to contain the coronavirus outbreak and that the pandemic had cast a pall over the trade deal with Beijing that he considers a major achievement.

Tensions between the world's two largest economies have spiked in recent weeks, with officials on both sides suggesting the hard-fought trade deal that defused a bitter 18-month trade war could be abandoned. 
Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, was asked if the trade deal was falling apart. "Absolutely not," he said.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/how-the-world-is-forming-an-alliance-against-china-298934">Also read:&nbsp;How the world is forming an alliance against China</a>

The Chinese are working toward holding up their end of the agreement, which calls for Beijing to boost purchases of American farm goods, manufactured products, energy and services by $200 billion over two years, Kudlow said.

"They're a little slow on the commodity purchases. I think that has a lot to do with market and economic positions," he said.

Kudlow`s comments came at the end of a week of complaints from Trump about China`s early handling of the coronavirus outbreak, and separate steps by his government to crack down on China`s blacklisted telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies and curb US&nbsp;investment in some Chinese companies.

On Thursday, Trump said he now feels differently about the trade deal and may even cut economic ties with Beijing.

Asked at a White House Rose Garden event on Friday whether he is planning to impose additional tariffs on China or tear up the trade deal, Trump said: "I don`t want to talk about it. I can say China is buying a lot of our product. But the trade deal, the ink was barely dry when this (the virus) came in from China, so it's not like we're thrilled."

Kudlow noted what he described as a successful phone call last week with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Liu He, China's vice premier, as well as a positive deputies call on Thursday night.

"We have other issues with China, and of course the origin of the virus ... but with respect to the trade deal, it is continuing, absolutely," Kudlow said.

Earlier this week, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which oversees billions in federal retirement dollars, said it would indefinitely delay plans to invest in some Chinese companies that are under scrutiny in Washington.

And on Friday, the Commerce Department moved to block supplies to Huawei, spurring threats of Chinese retaliation against US&nbsp;companies such as Apple and Boeing.

The US-China "Phase 1" trade deal reached in January is not falling apart and the two countries are still working to implement it, the White House`s top economic adviser said on Friday, but President Donald Trump added that he was not "thrilled" with the agreement.

The US-China "Phase 1" trade deal reached in January is not falling apart and the two countries are still working to implement it, the White House`s top economic adviser said on Friday, but President Donald Trump added that he was not "thrilled" with the agreement. Larry Kudlow told reporters at the White House the trade deal "is continuing," a day after Trump suggested he could cut ties with the world`s second-largest economy. Also watch: WION Dispatch: US unveils plan to hold China accountable for COVID-19 outbreak In an interview with Fox Business Network broadcast on Thursday, Trump said he was very disappointed with China's failure to contain the coronavirus outbreak and that the pandemic had cast a pall over the trade deal with Beijing that he considers a major achievement. Tensions between the world's two largest economies have spiked in recent weeks, with officials on both sides suggesting the hard-fought trade deal that defused a bitter 18-month trade war could be abandoned. Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, was asked if the trade deal was falling apart. "Absolutely not," he said. Also read: How the world is forming an alliance against China The Chinese are working toward holding up their end of the agreement, which calls for Beijing to boost purchases of American farm goods, manufactured products, energy and services by $200 billion over two years, Kudlow said. "They're a little slow on the commodity purchases. I think that has a lot to do with market and economic positions," he said. Kudlow`s comments came at the end of a week of complaints from Trump about China`s early handling of the coronavirus outbreak, and separate steps by his government to crack down on China`s blacklisted telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies and curb US investment in some Chinese companies. On Thursday, Trump said he now feels differently about the trade deal and may even cut economic ties with Beijing. Asked at a White House Rose Garden event on Friday whether he is planning to impose additional tariffs on China or tear up the trade deal, Trump said: "I don`t want to talk about it. I can say China is buying a lot of our product. But the trade deal, the ink was barely dry when this (the virus) came in from China, so it's not like we're thrilled." Kudlow noted what he described as a successful phone call last week with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Liu He, China's vice premier, as well as a positive deputies call on Thursday night. "We have other issues with China, and of course the origin of the virus ... but with respect to the trade deal, it is continuing, absolutely," Kudlow said. Earlier this week, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which oversees billions in federal retirement dollars, said it would indefinitely delay plans to invest in some Chinese companies that are under scrutiny in Washington. And on Friday, the Commerce Department moved to block supplies to Huawei, spurring threats of Chinese retaliation against US companies such as Apple and Boeing.

US-China trade deal not falling apart: White House adviser

Any foreign chipmakers producing chips from designs by Huawei and its affiliates with the use of American design tools or equipment will have to apply for a license from the U.S. Commerce Department

US: New rules to deter chip exports to Huawei

the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security are preparing to issue a warning that China’s most skilled hackers and spies are working to steal American research over COVID-19 vaccine.

US likely to accuse China of vaccine data theft

Washington's policy for 50 years has been designed to manage China's rise to great power status peacefully

Has the US-China cold war now begun?

Cyber attacks has become a new flashpoint between the US&nbsp;and China.

Top US&nbsp;agencies are preparing to issue a stern warning urging China to stop stealing research on COVID-19 vaccine.

Everybody involved in finding a cure for the deadly virus will be alerted, including hospital labs.

What are China’s most skilled hackers doing during the lockdown? They are mounting cyber-attacks on America to steal research on coronavirus vaccine.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/now-chinese-websites-claim-kyrgyzstan-kazakhstan-part-of-china-draws-ire-of-central-asia-298057">Also read:&nbsp;Now, Chinese websites claim Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan part of China; draws ire of Central Asia</a>

That’s what the US&nbsp;claims. The FBI and Homeland Security are now preparing to sound the bugle.

From premier medical research centres to university departments, even hospitals, everyone involved in finding a cure to the deadly virus will be alerted.

The US&nbsp;fears many of China’s research thieves are already at work, operating in close proximity to the database on American soil.

The draft warning letter says: China is seeking “valuable intellectual property and public health data through illicit means related to vaccines, treatments and testing.”

How is China doing this? 

Through “non-traditional actors".&nbsp;Chinese theft of the US&nbsp;trade secrets costs America $300 to 600 billion each year, according to national counter-intelligence and security center. Can this be considered China’s proxy war?

This is not the first time China has been accused of stealing information. Since April, America has been saying China is spying on US&nbsp;labs.

America also considered cracking down on China’s student programs after reports of information theft at universities.

A senate committee was set up to investigate the claims. Their report declared China is “systematically stealing U.S. Research”. China has been accused of trying to steal military technology too.

Pentagon reports, senate reports, news reports, all claimed China wants to steal military technology to end America’s dominance.

Two years ago, special powers were granted to&nbsp;US&nbsp;President Donald Trump to stop these cyber attacks.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the U.K. is accusing Russia and Iran of hacking British universities with the very same purpose: steal vaccine research data. If the trend continues, then verbal attacks on virus labs could turn into a cyber war.

When Beijing was asked about the charges, it chose to play the victim card.

Two global powers engaged in disrupting each other’s research projects, while the world waits for a cure for the deadly pandemic.

Cyber attacks has become a new flashpoint between the US and China. Top US agencies are preparing to issue a stern warning urging China to stop stealing research on COVID-19 vaccine.

Cyber attacks has become a new flashpoint between the US and China. Top US agencies are preparing to issue a stern warning urging China to stop stealing research on COVID-19 vaccine. Everybody involved in finding a cure for the deadly virus will be alerted, including hospital labs. What are China’s most skilled hackers doing during the lockdown? They are mounting cyber-attacks on America to steal research on coronavirus vaccine. Also read: Now, Chinese websites claim Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan part of China; draws ire of Central Asia That’s what the US claims. The FBI and Homeland Security are now preparing to sound the bugle. From premier medical research centres to university departments, even hospitals, everyone involved in finding a cure to the deadly virus will be alerted. The US fears many of China’s research thieves are already at work, operating in close proximity to the database on American soil. The draft warning letter says: China is seeking “valuable intellectual property and public health data through illicit means related to vaccines, treatments and testing.” How is China doing this? Through “non-traditional actors". Chinese theft of the US trade secrets costs America $300 to 600 billion each year, according to national counter-intelligence and security center. Can this be considered China’s proxy war? This is not the first time China has been accused of stealing information. Since April, America has been saying China is spying on US labs. America also considered cracking down on China’s student programs after reports of information theft at universities. A senate committee was set up to investigate the claims. Their report declared China is “systematically stealing U.S. Research”. China has been accused of trying to steal military technology too. Pentagon reports, senate reports, news reports, all claimed China wants to steal military technology to end America’s dominance. Two years ago, special powers were granted to US President Donald Trump to stop these cyber attacks. On the other side of the Atlantic, the U.K. is accusing Russia and Iran of hacking British universities with the very same purpose: steal vaccine research data. If the trend continues, then verbal attacks on virus labs could turn into a cyber war. When Beijing was asked about the charges, it chose to play the victim card. Two global powers engaged in disrupting each other’s research projects, while the world waits for a cure for the deadly pandemic.

Top US agencies to warn China to stop 'stealing' research on COVID-19 vaccine

China has issued a lengthy rebuttal of what it said were 24 lies by some leading US politicians over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

China refutes 24 US' lies over coronavirus outbreak

As Washington and Beijing trade barbs over the coronavirus pandemic, a longer-term struggle between the two Pacific powers is at a turning point, as the United States rolls out new weapons and strategy in a bid to close a wide missile gap with China.

The United States has largely stood by in recent decades as China dramatically expanded its military firepower. Now, having shed the constraints of a Cold War-era arms control treaty, the Trump administration is planning to deploy long-range, ground-launched cruise missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Pentagon intends to arm its Marines with versions of the Tomahawk cruise missile now carried on US warships, according to the White House budget requests for 2021 and Congressional testimony in March of senior US military commanders. It is also accelerating deliveries of its first new long-range anti-ship missiles in decades. 
In a statement to Reuters about the latest US moves, Beijing urged Washington to "be cautious in word and deed," to "stop moving chess pieces around" the region, and to "stop flexing its military muscles around China."

The US moves are aimed at countering China's overwhelming advantage in land-based cruise and ballistic missiles. The Pentagon also intends to dial back China's lead in what strategists refer to as the "range war." The People's Liberation Army (PLA), China's military, has built up a huge force of missiles that mostly outrange those of the US and its regional allies, according to senior US commanders and strategic advisers to the Pentagon, who have been warning that China holds a clear advantage in these weapons. 
And, in a radical shift in tactics, the Marines will join forces with the US Navy in attacking an enemy's warships. Small and mobile units of US Marines armed with anti-ship missiles will become ship killers.

In a conflict, these units will be dispersed at key points in the Western Pacific and along the so-called first island chain, commanders said. The first island chain is the string of islands that run from the Japanese archipelago, through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing China's coastal seas.

Top US military commanders explained the new tactics to Congress in March in a series of budget hearings. The commandant of the US Marine Corps, General David Berger, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 5 that small units of Marines armed with precision missiles could assist the US Navy to gain control of the seas, particularly in the Western Pacific. "The Tomahawk missile is one of the tools that is going to allow us to do that," he said.

The Tomahawk - which first gained fame when launched in massed strikes during the 1991 Gulf War - has been carried on US warships and used to attack land targets in recent decades. The Marines would test fire the cruise missile through 2022 with the aim of making it operational the following year, top Pentagon commanders testified.

At first, a relatively small number of land-based cruise missiles will not change the balance of power. But such a shift would send a strong political signal that Washington is preparing to compete with China's massive arsenal, according to senior US and other Western strategists. Longer term, bigger numbers of these weapons combined with similar Japanese and Taiwanese missiles would pose a serious threat to Chinese forces, they say. The biggest immediate threat to the PLA comes from new, long-range anti-ship missiles now entering service with US Navy and Air Force strike aircraft.

"The Americans are coming back strongly," said Ross Babbage, a former senior Australian government defense official and now a non-resident fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a security research group. "By 2024 or 2025 there is a serious risk for the PLA that their military developments will be obsolete."

A Chinese military spokesman, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, warned last October that Beijing would "not stand by" if Washington deployed land-based, long-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.

China's foreign ministry accused the United States of sticking "to its cold war mentality" and "constantly increasing military deployment" in the region.

"Recently, the United States has gotten worse, stepping up its pursuit of a so-called 'Indo-Pacific strategy' that seeks to deploy new weapons, including ground-launched intermediate-range missiles, in the Asia-Pacific region," the ministry said in a statement to Reuters. "China firmly opposes that."

Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said he would not comment on statements by the Chinese government or the PLA.

US MILITARY UNSHACKLED

While the coronavirus pandemic rages, Beijing has increased its military pressure on Taiwan and exercises in the South China Sea. In a show of strength, on April 11 the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning led a flotilla of five other warships into the Western Pacific through the Miyako Strait to the northeast of Taiwan, according to Taiwan's Defense Ministry. On April 12, the Chinese warships exercised in waters east and south of Taiwan, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the US Navy was forced to tie up the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt at Guam while it battles to contain a coronavirus outbreak among the crew of the giant warship. However, the US Navy managed to maintain a powerful presence off the Chinese coast. The guided-missile destroyer USS Barry passed through the Taiwan Strait twice in April. And the amphibious assault ship USS America last month exercised in the East China Sea and South China Sea, the US Indo-Pacific Command said.

In a series last year, Reuters reported that while the US was distracted by almost two decades of war in the Middle East and Afghanistan, the PLA had built a missile force designed to attack the aircraft carriers, other surface warships and network of bases that form the backbone of American power in Asia. Over that period, Chinese shipyards built the world's biggest navy, which is now capable of dominating the country's coastal waters and keeping US forces at bay.

The series also revealed that in most categories, China's missiles now rival or outperform counterparts in the armories of the US alliance.

China derived an advantage because it was not party to a Cold War-era treaty - the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) - that banned the United States and Russia from possessing ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges from 500 kilometers to 5,500 kilometers. Unrestrained by the INF pact, China has deployed about 2,000 of these weapons, according to US and other Western estimates.

While building up its missile forces on land, the PLA also fitted powerful, long-range anti-ship missiles to its warships and strike aircraft.

This accumulated firepower has shifted the regional balance of power in China's favor. The United States, long the dominant military power in Asia, can no longer be confident of victory in a military clash in waters off the Chinese coast, according to senior retired US military officers.

But the decision by President Donald Trump last year to exit the INF treaty has given American military planners new leeway. Almost immediately after withdrawing from the pact on August 2, the administration signaled it would respond to China's missile force. The next day, US Secretary for Defense Mark Esper said he would like to see ground-based missiles deployed in Asia within months, but he acknowledged it would take longer.

Later that month, the Pentagon tested a ground-launched Tomahawk cruise missile. In December, it tested a ground-launched ballistic missile. The INF treaty banned such ground-launched weapons, and thus both tests would have been forbidden.

A senior Marines commander, Lieutenant General Eric Smith, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 11 that the Pentagon leadership had instructed the Marines to field a ground-launched cruise missile "very quickly."

The budget documents show that the Marines have requested $125 million to buy 48 Tomahawk missiles from next year. The Tomahawk has a range of 1,600km, according to its manufacturer, Raytheon Company.

Smith said the cruise missile may not ultimately prove to be the most suitable weapon for the Marines. "It may be a little too heavy for us," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee, but experience gained from the tests could be transferred to the army.

Smith also said the Marines had successfully tested a new shorter-range anti-ship weapon, the Naval Strike Missile, from a ground launcher and would conduct another test in June. He said if that test was successful, the Marines intended to order 36 of these missiles in 2022. The US Army is also testing a new long-range, land-based missile that can target warships. This missile would have been prohibited under the INF treaty.

The Marine Corps said in a statement it was evaluating the Naval Strike Missile to target ships and the Tomahawk for attacking targets on land. Eventually, the Marines aimed to field a system "that could engage long-range moving targets either on land or sea," the statement said.

The Defense Department also has research underway on new, long-range strike weapons, with a budget request of $3.2 billion for hypersonic technology, mostly for missiles.

China's foreign ministry drew a distinction between the PLA's arsenal of missiles and the planned US deployment. It said China's missiles were "located in its territory, especially short and medium-range missiles, which cannot reach the mainland of the United States. This is fundamentally different from the US, which is vigorously pushing forward deployment."

BOTTLING UP CHINA'S NAVY

Military strategists James Holmes and Toshi Yoshihara suggested almost a decade ago that the first island chain was a natural barrier that could be exploited by the American military to counter the Chinese naval build-up. Ground-based anti-ship missiles could command key passages through the island chain into the Western Pacific as part of a strategy to keep the rapidly expanding Chinese navy bottled up, they suggested. 
In embracing this strategy, Washington is attempting to turn Chinese tactics back on the PLA. Senior US commanders have warned that China's land-based cruise and ballistic missiles would make it difficult for US and allied navies to operate near China's coastal waters.

But deploying ground-based US and allied missiles in the island chain would pose a similar threat to Chinese warships - to vessels operating in the South China Sea, East China Sea and Yellow Sea, or ships attempting to break out into the Western Pacific. Japan and Taiwan have already deployed ground-based anti-ship missiles for this purpose.

"We need to be able to plug up the straits," said Holmes, a professor at the US Naval War College. "We can, in effect, ask them if they want Taiwan or the Senkakus badly enough to see their economy and armed forces cut off from the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean. In all likelihood the answer will be no."

Holmes was referring to the uninhabited group of isles in the East China Sea - known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China - that are claimed by both Tokyo and Beijing.

The United States faces challenges in plugging the first island chain. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to distance himself from the United States and forge closer ties with China is a potential obstacle to American plans. US forces could face barriers to operating from strategically important islands in the Philippines archipelago after Duterte in February scrapped a key security agreement with Washington.

And if US forces do deploy in the first island chain with anti-ship missiles, some US strategists believe this won't be decisive, as the Marines would be vulnerable to strikes from the Chinese military. 
The United States has other counterweights. The firepower of long-range US Air Force bombers could pose a bigger threat to Chinese forces than the Marines, the strategists said. Particularly effective, they said, could be the stealthy B-21 bomber, which is due to enter service in the middle of this decade, armed with long-range missiles.

The Pentagon is already moving to boost the firepower of its existing strike aircraft in Asia. US Navy Super Hornet jets and Air Force B-1 bombers are now being armed with early deliveries of Lockheed Martin's new Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, according to the budget request documents. The new missile is being deployed in response to an "urgent operational need" for the US Pacific Command, the documents explain.

The new missile carries a 450 kilogram warhead and is capable of "semi-autonomous" targeting, giving it some ability to steer itself, according to the budget request. Details of the stealthy cruise missile's range are classified. But US and other Western military officials estimate it can strike targets at distances greater than 800 kilometers.

The budget documents show the Pentagon is seeking $224 million to order another 53 of these missiles in 2021. The US Navy and Air Force expect to have more than 400 of them in service by 2025, according to orders projected in the documents.

This new anti-ship missile is derived from an existing Lockheed long-range, land attack weapon, the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile. The Pentagon is asking for $577 million next year to order another 400 of these land-attack missiles.

"The US and allied focus on long-range land-attack and anti-ship cruise missiles was the quickest way to rebuild long-range conventional firepower in the Western Pacific region," said Robert Haddick, a former US Marine Corps officer and now a visiting senior fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies based in Arlington, Virginia.

For the US Navy in Asia, Super Hornet jets operating from aircraft carriers and armed with the new anti-ship missile would deliver a major boost in firepower while allowing the expensive warships to operate further away from potential threats, US and other Western military officials say.

Current and retired US Navy officers have been urging the Pentagon to equip American warships with longer-range anti-ship missiles that would allow them to compete with the latest, heavily armed Chinese cruisers, destroyers and frigates. Lockheed has said it successfully test-fired one of the new Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles from the type of launcher used on US and allied warships.

Haddick, one of the first to draw attention to China's firepower advantage in his 2014 book, "Fire on the Water," said the threat from Chinese missiles had galvanized the Pentagon with new strategic thinking and budgets now directed at preparing for high-technology conflict with powerful nations like China.

Haddick said the new missiles were critical to the defensive plans of America and its allies in the Western Pacific. The gap won't close immediately, but firepower would gradually improve, Haddick said. "This is especially true during the next half-decade and more, as successor hypersonic and other classified munition designs complete their long periods of development, testing, production, and deployment," he said.

As Washington and Beijing trade barbs over the coronavirus pandemic, a longer-term struggle between the two Pacific powers is at a turning point, as the United States rolls out new weapons and strategy in a bid to close a wide missile gap with China.

As Washington and Beijing trade barbs over the coronavirus pandemic, a longer-term struggle between the two Pacific powers is at a turning point, as the United States rolls out new weapons and strategy in a bid to close a wide missile gap with China. The United States has largely stood by in recent decades as China dramatically expanded its military firepower. Now, having shed the constraints of a Cold War-era arms control treaty, the Trump administration is planning to deploy long-range, ground-launched cruise missiles in the Asia-Pacific region. The Pentagon intends to arm its Marines with versions of the Tomahawk cruise missile now carried on US warships, according to the White House budget requests for 2021 and Congressional testimony in March of senior US military commanders. It is also accelerating deliveries of its first new long-range anti-ship missiles in decades. In a statement to Reuters about the latest US moves, Beijing urged Washington to "be cautious in word and deed," to "stop moving chess pieces around" the region, and to "stop flexing its military muscles around China." The US moves are aimed at countering China's overwhelming advantage in land-based cruise and ballistic missiles. The Pentagon also intends to dial back China's lead in what strategists refer to as the "range war." The People's Liberation Army (PLA), China's military, has built up a huge force of missiles that mostly outrange those of the US and its regional allies, according to senior US commanders and strategic advisers to the Pentagon, who have been warning that China holds a clear advantage in these weapons. And, in a radical shift in tactics, the Marines will join forces with the US Navy in attacking an enemy's warships. Small and mobile units of US Marines armed with anti-ship missiles will become ship killers. In a conflict, these units will be dispersed at key points in the Western Pacific and along the so-called first island chain, commanders said. The first island chain is the string of islands that run from the Japanese archipelago, through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing China's coastal seas. Top US military commanders explained the new tactics to Congress in March in a series of budget hearings. The commandant of the US Marine Corps, General David Berger, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 5 that small units of Marines armed with precision missiles could assist the US Navy to gain control of the seas, particularly in the Western Pacific. "The Tomahawk missile is one of the tools that is going to allow us to do that," he said. The Tomahawk - which first gained fame when launched in massed strikes during the 1991 Gulf War - has been carried on US warships and used to attack land targets in recent decades. The Marines would test fire the cruise missile through 2022 with the aim of making it operational the following year, top Pentagon commanders testified. At first, a relatively small number of land-based cruise missiles will not change the balance of power. But such a shift would send a strong political signal that Washington is preparing to compete with China's massive arsenal, according to senior US and other Western strategists. Longer term, bigger numbers of these weapons combined with similar Japanese and Taiwanese missiles would pose a serious threat to Chinese forces, they say. The biggest immediate threat to the PLA comes from new, long-range anti-ship missiles now entering service with US Navy and Air Force strike aircraft. "The Americans are coming back strongly," said Ross Babbage, a former senior Australian government defense official and now a non-resident fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a security research group. "By 2024 or 2025 there is a serious risk for the PLA that their military developments will be obsolete." A Chinese military spokesman, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, warned last October that Beijing would "not stand by" if Washington deployed land-based, long-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region. China's foreign ministry accused the United States of sticking "to its cold war mentality" and "constantly increasing military deployment" in the region. "Recently, the United States has gotten worse, stepping up its pursuit of a so-called 'Indo-Pacific strategy' that seeks to deploy new weapons, including ground-launched intermediate-range missiles, in the Asia-Pacific region," the ministry said in a statement to Reuters. "China firmly opposes that." Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said he would not comment on statements by the Chinese government or the PLA. US MILITARY UNSHACKLED While the coronavirus pandemic rages, Beijing has increased its military pressure on Taiwan and exercises in the South China Sea. In a show of strength, on April 11 the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning led a flotilla of five other warships into the Western Pacific through the Miyako Strait to the northeast of Taiwan, according to Taiwan's Defense Ministry. On April 12, the Chinese warships exercised in waters east and south of Taiwan, the ministry said. Meanwhile, the US Navy was forced to tie up the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt at Guam while it battles to contain a coronavirus outbreak among the crew of the giant warship. However, the US Navy managed to maintain a powerful presence off the Chinese coast. The guided-missile destroyer USS Barry passed through the Taiwan Strait twice in April. And the amphibious assault ship USS America last month exercised in the East China Sea and South China Sea, the US Indo-Pacific Command said. In a series last year, Reuters reported that while the US was distracted by almost two decades of war in the Middle East and Afghanistan, the PLA had built a missile force designed to attack the aircraft carriers, other surface warships and network of bases that form the backbone of American power in Asia. Over that period, Chinese shipyards built the world's biggest navy, which is now capable of dominating the country's coastal waters and keeping US forces at bay. The series also revealed that in most categories, China's missiles now rival or outperform counterparts in the armories of the US alliance. China derived an advantage because it was not party to a Cold War-era treaty - the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) - that banned the United States and Russia from possessing ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges from 500 kilometers to 5,500 kilometers. Unrestrained by the INF pact, China has deployed about 2,000 of these weapons, according to US and other Western estimates. While building up its missile forces on land, the PLA also fitted powerful, long-range anti-ship missiles to its warships and strike aircraft. This accumulated firepower has shifted the regional balance of power in China's favor. The United States, long the dominant military power in Asia, can no longer be confident of victory in a military clash in waters off the Chinese coast, according to senior retired US military officers. But the decision by President Donald Trump last year to exit the INF treaty has given American military planners new leeway. Almost immediately after withdrawing from the pact on August 2, the administration signaled it would respond to China's missile force. The next day, US Secretary for Defense Mark Esper said he would like to see ground-based missiles deployed in Asia within months, but he acknowledged it would take longer. Later that month, the Pentagon tested a ground-launched Tomahawk cruise missile. In December, it tested a ground-launched ballistic missile. The INF treaty banned such ground-launched weapons, and thus both tests would have been forbidden. A senior Marines commander, Lieutenant General Eric Smith, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 11 that the Pentagon leadership had instructed the Marines to field a ground-launched cruise missile "very quickly." The budget documents show that the Marines have requested $125 million to buy 48 Tomahawk missiles from next year. The Tomahawk has a range of 1,600km, according to its manufacturer, Raytheon Company. Smith said the cruise missile may not ultimately prove to be the most suitable weapon for the Marines. "It may be a little too heavy for us," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee, but experience gained from the tests could be transferred to the army. Smith also said the Marines had successfully tested a new shorter-range anti-ship weapon, the Naval Strike Missile, from a ground launcher and would conduct another test in June. He said if that test was successful, the Marines intended to order 36 of these missiles in 2022. The US Army is also testing a new long-range, land-based missile that can target warships. This missile would have been prohibited under the INF treaty. The Marine Corps said in a statement it was evaluating the Naval Strike Missile to target ships and the Tomahawk for attacking targets on land. Eventually, the Marines aimed to field a system "that could engage long-range moving targets either on land or sea," the statement said. The Defense Department also has research underway on new, long-range strike weapons, with a budget request of $3.2 billion for hypersonic technology, mostly for missiles. China's foreign ministry drew a distinction between the PLA's arsenal of missiles and the planned US deployment. It said China's missiles were "located in its territory, especially short and medium-range missiles, which cannot reach the mainland of the United States. This is fundamentally different from the US, which is vigorously pushing forward deployment." BOTTLING UP CHINA'S NAVY Military strategists James Holmes and Toshi Yoshihara suggested almost a decade ago that the first island chain was a natural barrier that could be exploited by the American military to counter the Chinese naval build-up. Ground-based anti-ship missiles could command key passages through the island chain into the Western Pacific as part of a strategy to keep the rapidly expanding Chinese navy bottled up, they suggested. In embracing this strategy, Washington is attempting to turn Chinese tactics back on the PLA. Senior US commanders have warned that China's land-based cruise and ballistic missiles would make it difficult for US and allied navies to operate near China's coastal waters. But deploying ground-based US and allied missiles in the island chain would pose a similar threat to Chinese warships - to vessels operating in the South China Sea, East China Sea and Yellow Sea, or ships attempting to break out into the Western Pacific. Japan and Taiwan have already deployed ground-based anti-ship missiles for this purpose. "We need to be able to plug up the straits," said Holmes, a professor at the US Naval War College. "We can, in effect, ask them if they want Taiwan or the Senkakus badly enough to see their economy and armed forces cut off from the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean. In all likelihood the answer will be no." Holmes was referring to the uninhabited group of isles in the East China Sea - known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China - that are claimed by both Tokyo and Beijing. The United States faces challenges in plugging the first island chain. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to distance himself from the United States and forge closer ties with China is a potential obstacle to American plans. US forces could face barriers to operating from strategically important islands in the Philippines archipelago after Duterte in February scrapped a key security agreement with Washington. And if US forces do deploy in the first island chain with anti-ship missiles, some US strategists believe this won't be decisive, as the Marines would be vulnerable to strikes from the Chinese military. The United States has other counterweights. The firepower of long-range US Air Force bombers could pose a bigger threat to Chinese forces than the Marines, the strategists said. Particularly effective, they said, could be the stealthy B-21 bomber, which is due to enter service in the middle of this decade, armed with long-range missiles. The Pentagon is already moving to boost the firepower of its existing strike aircraft in Asia. US Navy Super Hornet jets and Air Force B-1 bombers are now being armed with early deliveries of Lockheed Martin's new Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, according to the budget request documents. The new missile is being deployed in response to an "urgent operational need" for the US Pacific Command, the documents explain. The new missile carries a 450 kilogram warhead and is capable of "semi-autonomous" targeting, giving it some ability to steer itself, according to the budget request. Details of the stealthy cruise missile's range are classified. But US and other Western military officials estimate it can strike targets at distances greater than 800 kilometers. The budget documents show the Pentagon is seeking $224 million to order another 53 of these missiles in 2021. The US Navy and Air Force expect to have more than 400 of them in service by 2025, according to orders projected in the documents. This new anti-ship missile is derived from an existing Lockheed long-range, land attack weapon, the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile. The Pentagon is asking for $577 million next year to order another 400 of these land-attack missiles. "The US and allied focus on long-range land-attack and anti-ship cruise missiles was the quickest way to rebuild long-range conventional firepower in the Western Pacific region," said Robert Haddick, a former US Marine Corps officer and now a visiting senior fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies based in Arlington, Virginia. For the US Navy in Asia, Super Hornet jets operating from aircraft carriers and armed with the new anti-ship missile would deliver a major boost in firepower while allowing the expensive warships to operate further away from potential threats, US and other Western military officials say. Current and retired US Navy officers have been urging the Pentagon to equip American warships with longer-range anti-ship missiles that would allow them to compete with the latest, heavily armed Chinese cruisers, destroyers and frigates. Lockheed has said it successfully test-fired one of the new Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles from the type of launcher used on US and allied warships. Haddick, one of the first to draw attention to China's firepower advantage in his 2014 book, "Fire on the Water," said the threat from Chinese missiles had galvanized the Pentagon with new strategic thinking and budgets now directed at preparing for high-technology conflict with powerful nations like China. Haddick said the new missiles were critical to the defensive plans of America and its allies in the Western Pacific. The gap won't close immediately, but firepower would gradually improve, Haddick said. "This is especially true during the next half-decade and more, as successor hypersonic and other classified munition designs complete their long periods of development, testing, production, and deployment," he said.

US rearms to nullify China's missile supremacy

Global anti-China sentiment is currently at its highest -- ever since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, an internal report has warned.&nbsp;

The report, as quoted by Reuters, further warns that China faces a rising wave of hostility in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that could tip relations with the United States into confrontation.

The deadly virus, which first showed signs in China's Wuhan city, has so far infected more than 3 million people globally and caused more than 2,00,000 deaths.

The said Chinese report was presented early last month by the Ministry of State Security to top Beijing leaders including President Xi Jinping.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-has-questions-to-answer-over-coronavirus-outbreak-says-uk-296580">Also read |&nbsp;China has questions to answer over coronavirus outbreak, says UK</a>

It says China needs to be prepared in a worst-case scenario for armed confrontation with the United States.

The report was drawn up by the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), a think tank affiliated with the Ministry of State Security, China’s top intelligence body.

DEEPENING RIFT

Relations between China and the United States are being seen to be at their worst point in decades. Having started with deepening mistrust and friction points from US allegations of unfair trade and technology practices to disputes over Hong Kong, Taiwan and contested territories in the South China Sea, the US-China relations have nosedived into an abyss.

The coronavirus has claimed tens of thousands of American lives and ravaged the US economy.

US President Donald Trump has since been ramping up his criticism of Beijing and threatening new tariffs on China. His administration, meanwhile, is considering retaliatory measures against China over the outbreak.

Inversely, it is widely believed in Beijing that the United States wants to contain a rising China, which has become more assertive globally as its economy has grown.

To this end, the paper concluded that Washington views China’s rise as an economic and national security threat and a challenge to Western democracies, the people said. The report also said the United States was aiming to undercut the ruling Communist Party by undermining public confidence.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/covid-19-us-intelligence-communitys-statement-may-have-given-china-a-huge-propaganda-victory-296034">Also read |&nbsp;COVID-19: US intelligence community's statement may have given China a huge propaganda victory</a>

Reuters said the report looks like the 'Novikov Telegram', a 1946 dispatch by the Soviet ambassador to Washington, Nikolai Novikov, that stressed the dangers of US economic and military ambition in the wake of World War II. It said the Soviet Union did not see the possibility for peaceful coexistence with the West, and that containment was the best long-term strategy. The two documents helped set the stage for the strategic thinking that defined both sides of the Cold War.

China has been trying to assert a leading role in the global battle against COVID-19. That has included a propaganda push around its donations and sale of medical supplies to the United States and other countries and sharing of expertise.

But it also faces a growing backlash from critics who have called to hold Beijing accountable for its role in the pandemic.

Trump has said he would cut off funding for the World Health Organisation (WHO), which he called “very China-centric,” something the officials have denied.

Australia’s government has called for an international investigation into the origins and spread of the virus.

Last month, France summoned China’s ambassador to protest a publication on the website of China’s embassy that criticised Western handling of coronavirus.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/facts-that-china-is-trying-to-suppress-about-origin-of-covid-19-296367">Also read |&nbsp;Facts that China is trying to suppress about origin of COVID-19</a>

RESULT

The report suggests the anti-China sentiment could fuel resistance to China’s Belt and Road infrastructure investment projects, and that Washington could step up financial and military support for regional allies, making the security situation in Asia more volatile.

A reaction similar to that of the aftermath of Tiananmen seems unlikely though -- as China is far more powerful nowadays. Back then, many Western governments had imposed sanctions against China including banning or restricting arms sales and technology transfers.

(With inputs from Reuters)

Global anti-China sentiment is currently at its highest -- ever since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, an internal report has warned. The report, as quoted by Reuters, further warns that China faces a rising wave of hostility in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that could tip relations with the United States into confrontation.

Global anti-China sentiment is currently at its highest -- ever since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, an internal report has warned. The report, as quoted by Reuters, further warns that China faces a rising wave of hostility in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that could tip relations with the United States into confrontation. The deadly virus, which first showed signs in China's Wuhan city, has so far infected more than 3 million people globally and caused more than 2,00,000 deaths. The said Chinese report was presented early last month by the Ministry of State Security to top Beijing leaders including President Xi Jinping. Also read | China has questions to answer over coronavirus outbreak, says UK It says China needs to be prepared in a worst-case scenario for armed confrontation with the United States. The report was drawn up by the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), a think tank affiliated with the Ministry of State Security, China’s top intelligence body. DEEPENING RIFT Relations between China and the United States are being seen to be at their worst point in decades. Having started with deepening mistrust and friction points from US allegations of unfair trade and technology practices to disputes over Hong Kong, Taiwan and contested territories in the South China Sea, the US-China relations have nosedived into an abyss. The coronavirus has claimed tens of thousands of American lives and ravaged the US economy. US President Donald Trump has since been ramping up his criticism of Beijing and threatening new tariffs on China. His administration, meanwhile, is considering retaliatory measures against China over the outbreak. Inversely, it is widely believed in Beijing that the United States wants to contain a rising China, which has become more assertive globally as its economy has grown. To this end, the paper concluded that Washington views China’s rise as an economic and national security threat and a challenge to Western democracies, the people said. The report also said the United States was aiming to undercut the ruling Communist Party by undermining public confidence. Also read | COVID-19: US intelligence community's statement may have given China a huge propaganda victory Reuters said the report looks like the 'Novikov Telegram', a 1946 dispatch by the Soviet ambassador to Washington, Nikolai Novikov, that stressed the dangers of US economic and military ambition in the wake of World War II. It said the Soviet Union did not see the possibility for peaceful coexistence with the West, and that containment was the best long-term strategy. The two documents helped set the stage for the strategic thinking that defined both sides of the Cold War. China has been trying to assert a leading role in the global battle against COVID-19. That has included a propaganda push around its donations and sale of medical supplies to the United States and other countries and sharing of expertise. But it also faces a growing backlash from critics who have called to hold Beijing accountable for its role in the pandemic. Trump has said he would cut off funding for the World Health Organisation (WHO), which he called “very China-centric,” something the officials have denied. Australia’s government has called for an international investigation into the origins and spread of the virus. Last month, France summoned China’s ambassador to protest a publication on the website of China’s embassy that criticised Western handling of coronavirus. Also read | Facts that China is trying to suppress about origin of COVID-19 RESULT The report suggests the anti-China sentiment could fuel resistance to China’s Belt and Road infrastructure investment projects, and that Washington could step up financial and military support for regional allies, making the security situation in Asia more volatile. A reaction similar to that of the aftermath of Tiananmen seems unlikely though -- as China is far more powerful nowadays. Back then, many Western governments had imposed sanctions against China including banning or restricting arms sales and technology transfers. (With inputs from Reuters)

China faces increasing global backlash over coronavirus outbreak, warns internal report

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he believes China’s handling of the coronavirus is proof that Beijing “will do anything they can” to make him lose his re-election bid in November. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/coronavirus-hammered-us-economy-in-first-quarter-295600">Also read: Coronavirus hammered US economy in first quarter</a> 
 
In an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office, Trump said he was looking at different options in terms of consequences for China over the virus. “I can do a lot,” he said.

Trump has been heaping blame on China for a global pandemic that has killed at least 60,000 people in the United States according to a Reuters tally, and thrown the US economy into a deep recession, putting in jeopardy his hopes for another four-year term.

The Republican president, often accused of not acting early enough to prepare the United States for the spread of the virus, said he believed China should have been more active in letting the world know about the coronavirus much sooner.

Asked whether he was considering the use of tariffs or even debt write-offs for China, Trump would not offer specifics.

“There are many things I can do,” he said. “We’re looking for what happened.”&nbsp;

“China will do anything they can to have me lose this race,” said Trump. He said he believes Beijing wants his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, to win the race to ease the pressure Trump has placed on China over trade and other issues.

Trump also said South Korea has agreed to pay the United States more money for a defence cooperation agreement but would not be drawn out on how much.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he believes China’s handling of the coronavirus is proof that Beijing “will do anything they can” to make him lose his re-election bid in November.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he believes China’s handling of the coronavirus is proof that Beijing “will do anything they can” to make him lose his re-election bid in November. Also read: Coronavirus hammered US economy in first quarter In an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office, Trump said he was looking at different options in terms of consequences for China over the virus. “I can do a lot,” he said. Trump has been heaping blame on China for a global pandemic that has killed at least 60,000 people in the United States according to a Reuters tally, and thrown the US economy into a deep recession, putting in jeopardy his hopes for another four-year term. The Republican president, often accused of not acting early enough to prepare the United States for the spread of the virus, said he believed China should have been more active in letting the world know about the coronavirus much sooner. Asked whether he was considering the use of tariffs or even debt write-offs for China, Trump would not offer specifics. “There are many things I can do,” he said. “We’re looking for what happened.” “China will do anything they can to have me lose this race,” said Trump. He said he believes Beijing wants his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, to win the race to ease the pressure Trump has placed on China over trade and other issues. Trump also said South Korea has agreed to pay the United States more money for a defence cooperation agreement but would not be drawn out on how much.

Trump says China ‘will do anything they can’ to see him lose re-election race

US President Donald Trump has suggested that he might seek "substantial" damages from China over the Coronavirus outbreak. China says US lawmakers are 'talking nonsense'. Is this the beginning of a new cold war?

Gravitas: Wuhan Coronavirus: US might seek damages from China

Two world leaders are at the centre of this Coronavirus outbreak - Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Both leaders have been criticised for their response to the pandemic.

Gravitas: Coronavirus outbreak: The Story of Donald Trump & Xi Jinping

US slamming Bejing said the country is using COVID-19 distraction to further its hold in the South China Sea. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said, "Even as we fight the outbreak, we must remember that the long-term threats to our shared security have not disappeared. In fact, they’ve become more prominent."

US slams China's aggression in South China sea

Oil&nbsp;prices kicked off the&nbsp;new&nbsp;year&nbsp;higher&nbsp;on Thursday as warming&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-china-phase-one-trade-deal-to-be-signed-january-15-trump-271308">trade&nbsp;relations</a> between the United States and China eased demand concerns while rising&nbsp;tensions&nbsp;in the&nbsp;Middle&nbsp;East&nbsp;fuelled worries about supply.

Global benchmark <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/oil-prices-steady-on-track-for-biggest-yearly-rise-since-2016-271227">Brent crude</a> futures, rose 35 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to 66.35 a barrel by 0738 GMT, while US&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/global-markets-china-lifts-asian-shares-oil-up-on-drawdowns-mideast-tensions-270929">West Texas Intermediate</a> (WTI) crude was up 25 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $61.31 per barrel.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions/wion-edit-oil-drives-the-global-economy-268116">Oil&nbsp;markets</a> were closed on Wednesday for&nbsp;New&nbsp;Year's Day.

Both benchmarks ended&nbsp;higher&nbsp;in 2019, posting their biggest annual gains since 2016, buoyed at the end of the&nbsp;year&nbsp;by a thaw in the prolonged&nbsp;trade&nbsp;dispute between the United States and China, the world's two largest economies and a deeper output cut pledged by the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/oil-prices-inch-higher-amid-support-for-supply-cuts-lower-inventory-forecast-269909">Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries</a> (OPEC) and its allies.

"Oil&nbsp;remains supported by the back-burner&nbsp;trade&nbsp;truce and the uptick in political unrest in Iraq," said <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/oil-prices-slip-as-weak-china-exports-highlights-trade-war-impact-267079">Stephen Innes</a>, chief Asia market strategist at AxiTrader.

The US&nbsp;military carried out airstrikes against Iran-backed Katib Hezbollah militia group over the weekend. Angry at the airstrikes, protesters stormed the US&nbsp;Embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday, although they withdrew after the United States deployed extra troops.

In 2020, Brent is forecast to average $63.07 a barrel, up from December's estimate of $62.50, while WTI is forecast to average $57.70 a barrel, up from December's estimate of $57.30, as the OPEC-led supply cuts and the expectations of a US-China&nbsp;trade&nbsp;deal boosted analysts' views on the prospects for the&nbsp;year, a Reuters poll showed.

US&nbsp;President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the US-China Phase One&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/oil-edges-up-on-trade-optimism-eyes-on-middle-east-tensions-270959">trade&nbsp;deal</a> would be signed on January&nbsp;15 at the White House.

January also marks the start of the deeper output cuts by OPEC and its partners, including Russia. OPEC and its allies have agreed to cut a further of 500,000 barrels per day (BPD) from January&nbsp;1, on top of their previous cut of 1.2 million BPD that started on January&nbsp;1&nbsp;a&nbsp;year&nbsp;ago.

A fall in US&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/oil-prices-inch-higher-amid-support-for-supply-cuts-lower-inventory-forecast-269909">crude inventories</a> last week also supported prices. US&nbsp;crude stocks fell 7.8 million barrels in the week ended December&nbsp;27, compared with analysts' expectations for a decrease of 3.2 million barrels, according to data from the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/oil-falls-as-us-inventories-rise-but-demand-hopes-stem-bigger-drop-268973">American Petroleum Institute</a> (API) released on Tuesday.

Official data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due on Friday as the release has been delayed by two days by the&nbsp;New&nbsp;Year's holiday.

"Traders will look towards Friday's EIA report for forwarding guidance on&nbsp;oil&nbsp;prices," said <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/oil-prices-steady-on-track-for-biggest-yearly-rise-since-2016-271227">Benjamin Lu</a>, an analyst at Singapore-based brokerage Phillip Futures.

Oil prices kicked off the new year higher on Thursday as warming trade relations between the United States and China eased demand concerns while rising tensions in the Middle East fuelled worries about supply.

Oil prices kicked off the new year higher on Thursday as warming trade relations between the United States and China eased demand concerns while rising tensions in the Middle East fuelled worries about supply. Global benchmark Brent crude futures, rose 35 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to 66.35 a barrel by 0738 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 25 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $61.31 per barrel. Oil markets were closed on Wednesday for New Year's Day. Both benchmarks ended higher in 2019, posting their biggest annual gains since 2016, buoyed at the end of the year by a thaw in the prolonged trade dispute between the United States and China, the world's two largest economies and a deeper output cut pledged by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies. "Oil remains supported by the back-burner trade truce and the uptick in political unrest in Iraq," said Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at AxiTrader. The US military carried out airstrikes against Iran-backed Katib Hezbollah militia group over the weekend. Angry at the airstrikes, protesters stormed the US Embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday, although they withdrew after the United States deployed extra troops. In 2020, Brent is forecast to average $63.07 a barrel, up from December's estimate of $62.50, while WTI is forecast to average $57.70 a barrel, up from December's estimate of $57.30, as the OPEC-led supply cuts and the expectations of a US-China trade deal boosted analysts' views on the prospects for the year, a Reuters poll showed. US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the US-China Phase One trade deal would be signed on January 15 at the White House. January also marks the start of the deeper output cuts by OPEC and its partners, including Russia. OPEC and its allies have agreed to cut a further of 500,000 barrels per day (BPD) from January 1, on top of their previous cut of 1.2 million BPD that started on January 1 a year ago. A fall in US crude inventories last week also supported prices. US crude stocks fell 7.8 million barrels in the week ended December 27, compared with analysts' expectations for a decrease of 3.2 million barrels, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) released on Tuesday. Official data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due on Friday as the release has been delayed by two days by the New Year's holiday. "Traders will look towards Friday's EIA report for forwarding guidance on oil prices," said Benjamin Lu, an analyst at Singapore-based brokerage Phillip Futures.

Oil starts new year higher on trade optimism, Middle East in 'supply' tensions

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/oil-falls-as-us-inventories-rise-but-demand-hopes-stem-bigger-drop-268973">Oil prices</a> fell on Monday, but were holding near recent three-month highs amid expectations that the United States and China will soon agree on a trade deal, with President Donald Trump saying an agreement would be signed "<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/phase-one-trade-deal-with-china-would-be-signed-very-shortly-donald-trump-269576">very shortly</a>".

Brent crude was down 16 cents, or 0.2 per cent, at $65.98 a barrel by 0730 GMT. West Texas Intermediate was down 22 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $60.22 a barrel.

A so-called <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/phase-one-trade-deal-reached-with-us-china-268186">phase one deal</a> was announced earlier in December as part of a bid to end the months-long tit-for-tat trade war between the world's two largest economies, which has sent shockwaves through markets and <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-hopes-us-china-trade-deal-will-be-signed-by-middle-of-november-256808">roiled global growth</a>.

The United States is to agree to <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-will-make-final-call-on-china-tariffs-likes-direction-of-talks-larry-kudlow-266889">reduce some tariffs</a> in return for a big increase in purchases by Chinese importers of American farm products, according to the deal that is due to be signed in January.

"We just achieved a breakthrough on the trade deal and we will be signing it very shortly," Trump said at a Turning Point USA event in Florida on Saturday.

The easing of tensions has improved business confidence and boosted the outlook for economic growth and energy demand.

"Oil prices will continue to benefit from the positive developments in the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-xi-jinping-give-positive-signals-on-trade-deal-after-phone-call-269443">US-China&nbsp;trade</a>," said <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/gold-prices-subdued-as-investors-await-trade-deal-details-palladium-dips-268837">Stephen Innes</a>, chief&nbsp;Asia market strategist at <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/oil-prices-slip-as-weak-china-exports-highlights-trade-war-impact-267079">AxiTrader</a>.

"With a more constructive global macro outlook than at any time in the last year, oil is well-supported by both fundamental factors and sentiment now," he said.

US&nbsp;drillers may be anticipating higher prices as well and last week increased the number of their oil rigs by the most in a week since February 2018.

Drillers added 18 oil rigs in the week to December&nbsp;20, bringing the total to 685, the most since November, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/oil-drops-as-us-inventory-build-record-output-rekindles-supply-worries-264998">Baker Hughes</a>, an energy services company, said in its weekly report.

US&nbsp;economic growth nudged up in the third quarter, latest data shows, and the economy appears to have maintained the moderate pace of expansion as the year ended, supported by a strong labour market.

Many investors are on holiday already with the end of the year around the corner and trading is thin, potentially accentuating market moves due to the lack of liquidity.

"With the holiday season upon us with much-reduced volumes and liquidity, some choppy daily moves can&nbsp;be expected," said <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/oil-rises-on-hopes-for-deeper-opec-output-cuts-us-china-trade-talks-255148">Jeffrey Halley</a>, senior market analyst at OANDA.

Oil prices fell on Monday, but were holding near recent three-month highs amid expectations that the United States and China will soon agree on a trade deal, with President Donald Trump saying an agreement would be signed "very shortly".

Oil prices fell on Monday, but were holding near recent three-month highs amid expectations that the United States and China will soon agree on a trade deal, with President Donald Trump saying an agreement would be signed "very shortly". Brent crude was down 16 cents, or 0.2 per cent, at $65.98 a barrel by 0730 GMT. West Texas Intermediate was down 22 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $60.22 a barrel. A so-called phase one deal was announced earlier in December as part of a bid to end the months-long tit-for-tat trade war between the world's two largest economies, which has sent shockwaves through markets and roiled global growth. The United States is to agree to reduce some tariffs in return for a big increase in purchases by Chinese importers of American farm products, according to the deal that is due to be signed in January. "We just achieved a breakthrough on the trade deal and we will be signing it very shortly," Trump said at a Turning Point USA event in Florida on Saturday. The easing of tensions has improved business confidence and boosted the outlook for economic growth and energy demand. "Oil prices will continue to benefit from the positive developments in the US-China trade," said Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at AxiTrader. "With a more constructive global macro outlook than at any time in the last year, oil is well-supported by both fundamental factors and sentiment now," he said. US drillers may be anticipating higher prices as well and last week increased the number of their oil rigs by the most in a week since February 2018. Drillers added 18 oil rigs in the week to December 20, bringing the total to 685, the most since November, Baker Hughes, an energy services company, said in its weekly report. US economic growth nudged up in the third quarter, latest data shows, and the economy appears to have maintained the moderate pace of expansion as the year ended, supported by a strong labour market. Many investors are on holiday already with the end of the year around the corner and trading is thin, potentially accentuating market moves due to the lack of liquidity. "With the holiday season upon us with much-reduced volumes and liquidity, some choppy daily moves can be expected," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.

Oil eases but supported by trade deal hopes

China's customs said on Thursday it was lifting restrictions on the import of poultry meat from the United States, effective immediately.

The plan to lift the nearly five-year ban on US poultry was announced by China's commerce ministry in late October but publication on the website of the customs administration, which clears imports of all farm products, is a formal recognition of the reopening of the trade.

It comes after the US Food Safety and Inspection Service amended the Federal Register last week to approve imports of poultry products derived from birds slaughtered in China.

The poultry approvals by each side come during ongoing negotiations between the countries to resolve a 16-month long trade war in which each has slapped tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each others' goods.

Improving access for US farm produce in the Chinese market has been a critical part of the negotiations, with the removal of non-tariff barriers seen as key to reaching Trump's goal of doubling agricultural sales to China.

China had banned all US poultry and eggs since January 2015 due to an avian influenza outbreak, and imports tanked that year to a fifth of the $390 million worth imported in 2014.

Reopening the market to US poultry meat comes as China faces an unprecedented shortage of protein after a fatal hog disease killed millions of pigs in the pork-loving country.

Imports of chicken have surged this year, with China even purchasing items from abroad such as breast meat that is normally in surplus in the country. Chicken imports of 548,627 tonnes in the first nine months were up 47.6% from year-ago levels, according to Chinese customs data, and were worth 9.2 billion yuan.

China's customs said on Thursday it was lifting restrictions on the import of poultry meat from the United States, effective immediately. The plan to lift the nearly five-year ban on US poultry was announced by China's commerce ministry in late October but publication on the website of the customs administration, which clears imports of all farm products, is a formal recognition of the reopening of the trade.

China's customs said on Thursday it was lifting restrictions on the import of poultry meat from the United States, effective immediately. The plan to lift the nearly five-year ban on US poultry was announced by China's commerce ministry in late October but publication on the website of the customs administration, which clears imports of all farm products, is a formal recognition of the reopening of the trade. It comes after the US Food Safety and Inspection Service amended the Federal Register last week to approve imports of poultry products derived from birds slaughtered in China. The poultry approvals by each side come during ongoing negotiations between the countries to resolve a 16-month long trade war in which each has slapped tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each others' goods. Improving access for US farm produce in the Chinese market has been a critical part of the negotiations, with the removal of non-tariff barriers seen as key to reaching Trump's goal of doubling agricultural sales to China. China had banned all US poultry and eggs since January 2015 due to an avian influenza outbreak, and imports tanked that year to a fifth of the $390 million worth imported in 2014. Reopening the market to US poultry meat comes as China faces an unprecedented shortage of protein after a fatal hog disease killed millions of pigs in the pork-loving country. Imports of chicken have surged this year, with China even purchasing items from abroad such as breast meat that is normally in surplus in the country. Chicken imports of 548,627 tonnes in the first nine months were up 47.6% from year-ago levels, according to Chinese customs data, and were worth 9.2 billion yuan.

China lifts restrictions on US poultry meat imports: Customs

Malaysian Prime Minister <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/malaysias-mahathir-says-hong-kong-leader-should-step-down-253709">Mahathir Mohamad</a> said on Monday his exports-reliant country could be hit with trade sanctions amid rising protectionism highlighted by the United States-China tariff war.

Mahathir did not mention the source of possible sanctions on the Southeast Asian country but said he was disappointed that proponents of free trade were now indulging in restrictive trade practices on a "grand scale".

"Unfortunately, we are caught in the middle," he told a conference in the capital Kuala Lumpur, referring to the US-China trade war.

"Economically we are linked to both markets, and physically we are also caught in between for geographical reasons. There is even suggestion that we ourselves would be a target for sanctions."

The United States and China were two of the three biggest export destinations for <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/modi-mahathir-meet-zakir-naik-revocation-of-article-370-discussed-247711">Malaysia</a> between January and August this year. Singapore was the top destination.

To cushion the impact of the collision between the superpowers, Mahathir said Malaysia was collaborating more with its regional neighbours.

Mahathir also complained of being bullied by powerful nations, referring to a campaign by European countries against Malaysia's agricultural mainstay of palm oil. The edible oil contributed 2.8 per cent&nbsp;of Malaysia's gross domestic product last year and 4.5 per cent&nbsp;to total exports.

"Having cleared most of their forests and refusing to reduce their noxious emissions, they now try to impoverish the poor by preventing them from clearing their forest for living space and earning a living," he said.

The European Union passed an act earlier this year to phase out palm oil from renewable fuel by 2030 due to deforestation concerns.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Monday his exports-reliant country could be hit with trade sanctions amid rising protectionism highlighted by the United States-China tariff war.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Monday his exports-reliant country could be hit with trade sanctions amid rising protectionism highlighted by the United States-China tariff war. Mahathir did not mention the source of possible sanctions on the Southeast Asian country but said he was disappointed that proponents of free trade were now indulging in restrictive trade practices on a "grand scale". "Unfortunately, we are caught in the middle," he told a conference in the capital Kuala Lumpur, referring to the US-China trade war. "Economically we are linked to both markets, and physically we are also caught in between for geographical reasons. There is even suggestion that we ourselves would be a target for sanctions." The United States and China were two of the three biggest export destinations for Malaysia between January and August this year. Singapore was the top destination. To cushion the impact of the collision between the superpowers, Mahathir said Malaysia was collaborating more with its regional neighbours. Mahathir also complained of being bullied by powerful nations, referring to a campaign by European countries against Malaysia's agricultural mainstay of palm oil. The edible oil contributed 2.8 per cent of Malaysia's gross domestic product last year and 4.5 per cent to total exports. "Having cleared most of their forests and refusing to reduce their noxious emissions, they now try to impoverish the poor by preventing them from clearing their forest for living space and earning a living," he said. The European Union passed an act earlier this year to phase out palm oil from renewable fuel by 2030 due to deforestation concerns.

Mahathir warns of possible trade sanctions on Malaysia

China on Sunday said it aims to become a "great power" in the online world and took a swipe at Washington on trade, kicking off its annual conference promoting the Communist Party's controlled and censored version of the internet.

US-China rivalry is increasingly playing out in the digital sphere, as Beijing pursues dominance in next-generation technology while Washington takes measures to cripple Chinese tech firms like Huawei.

China heavily monitors and censors its internet, with US titans Facebook, Twitter and Google all hidden behind a so-called "Great Firewall" that also blocks politically sensitive content.

At the yearly World Internet Conference, held in the picturesque ancient canal town of Wuzhen since 2014, Chinese officials talked up the country's tech prowess.

"We have become a cyberspace power of 800 million netizens," the head of the Communist Party's propaganda department, Huang Kunming, said in a keynote address.

Huang added that in the future, China "will unceasingly expand the fruits of internet development and forge ahead from a cyberspace 'big power' to a cyberspace 'great power'".

The propaganda chief also denounced "cyber-hegemony and bullying" by other countries, using language typically reserved for the United States, which he said were behind confrontation in the high-tech world.

'Internet sovereignty'

The US is threatening crippling sanctions on Huawei, which is expected to be a leading player in the advent of ultra-fast 5G communications that will make many new technologies possible.

"Some countries have placed restrictions on and suppressed other countries and companies, escalating uncertainty and even antagonism in cyberspace," Huang said, without naming the United States directly.

The US commerce department also earlier this month said it will blacklist 28 Chinese entities it says are implicated in rights violations and abuses in China's Xinjiang region, where an estimated one million mostly Muslim minorities are held in internment camps.

President Xi Jinping has previously sketched out plans for China to gain dominance,&nbsp; with heavy assistance from the government,&nbsp;in key future technologies by 2025, a strategy that has caused US alarm.

The conference has faced foreign criticism as an attempt to whitewash the Communist Party's cyberspace controls in the name of "internet sovereignty" rather than viewing the web as an open global resource.

In the past, the event has drawn leading US tech CEOs such as Apple's Tim Cook and Google's Sundar Pichai.

But with the US-China tensions simmering, this year's conference lacks any high-profile US figures.

Silicon Valley has also been embroiled in recent efforts by Beijing to step up pressure on foreign companies deemed to be in support of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.

Earlier this month Apple removed an app criticised by mainland China for allowing Hong Kong protesters to track police, a move which sparked fierce criticism and accusations of bowing to China.

China on Sunday said it aims to become a "great power" in the online world and took a swipe at Washington on trade, kicking off its annual conference promoting the Communist Party's controlled and censored version of the internet.

China on Sunday said it aims to become a "great power" in the online world and took a swipe at Washington on trade, kicking off its annual conference promoting the Communist Party's controlled and censored version of the internet. US-China rivalry is increasingly playing out in the digital sphere, as Beijing pursues dominance in next-generation technology while Washington takes measures to cripple Chinese tech firms like Huawei. China heavily monitors and censors its internet, with US titans Facebook, Twitter and Google all hidden behind a so-called "Great Firewall" that also blocks politically sensitive content. At the yearly World Internet Conference, held in the picturesque ancient canal town of Wuzhen since 2014, Chinese officials talked up the country's tech prowess. "We have become a cyberspace power of 800 million netizens," the head of the Communist Party's propaganda department, Huang Kunming, said in a keynote address. Huang added that in the future, China "will unceasingly expand the fruits of internet development and forge ahead from a cyberspace 'big power' to a cyberspace 'great power'". The propaganda chief also denounced "cyber-hegemony and bullying" by other countries, using language typically reserved for the United States, which he said were behind confrontation in the high-tech world. 'Internet sovereignty' The US is threatening crippling sanctions on Huawei, which is expected to be a leading player in the advent of ultra-fast 5G communications that will make many new technologies possible. "Some countries have placed restrictions on and suppressed other countries and companies, escalating uncertainty and even antagonism in cyberspace," Huang said, without naming the United States directly. The US commerce department also earlier this month said it will blacklist 28 Chinese entities it says are implicated in rights violations and abuses in China's Xinjiang region, where an estimated one million mostly Muslim minorities are held in internment camps. President Xi Jinping has previously sketched out plans for China to gain dominance, with heavy assistance from the government, in key future technologies by 2025, a strategy that has caused US alarm. The conference has faced foreign criticism as an attempt to whitewash the Communist Party's cyberspace controls in the name of "internet sovereignty" rather than viewing the web as an open global resource. In the past, the event has drawn leading US tech CEOs such as Apple's Tim Cook and Google's Sundar Pichai. But with the US-China tensions simmering, this year's conference lacks any high-profile US figures. Silicon Valley has also been embroiled in recent efforts by Beijing to step up pressure on foreign companies deemed to be in support of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement. Earlier this month Apple removed an app criticised by mainland China for allowing Hong Kong protesters to track police, a move which sparked fierce criticism and accusations of bowing to China.

China talks up technology prowess in face of United States rivalry

Oil prices eased on Monday as scant details on the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-president-donald-trump-announces-partial-trade-deal-with-china-255358">first phase of a trade deal </a>between the United States and China undercut last week's optimism over the thaw that helped to lift crude markets by 2 per cent.

Brent crude futures&nbsp;edged down by 25 cents to $60.26 a barrel by 0436 GMT, while US&nbsp;West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures&nbsp;was at $54.45 a barrel, down 25 cents.

Both contracts rose more than 3 per cent&nbsp;last week, their first weekly gain in three.

"There is an argument that the oil market trading during US&nbsp;hours on Friday have already had a chance to price (in) the news on the trade dispute and the better outlook for global demand," said CMC Markets chief strategist Michael McCarthy.

"So traders are reluctant to push it further given those very strong gains."

Most of the gains posted on Friday, however, had come after an Iranian oil tanker was attacked off Saudi Arabia's coast in the Red Sea. Investigations are under way to determine if the tanker was hit by missiles, which could ratchet up tensions between Tehran and Riyadh if confirmed.

The emergence of a "Phase 1" trade deal between the United States and China and a goodwill move by Washington to suspend threatened tariffs on Chinese products also helped to lifted global financial markets on Monday.&nbsp;

But investors remained cautious given that few details emerged from the talks.

"Traders view the deal in a tentative light ... This baby-step agreement could take weeks to iron out," said Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific market strategist at AxiTrader in a note.

The trade war has pressure China's trade, with its exports to the United States falling 10.7 per cent&nbsp;from a year earlier in dollar terms over January-September, Chinese customs spokesman Li Kuiwen told reporters.

China's imports from the United States, on the other hand, have fallen 26.4 per cent&nbsp;in dollar terms during the first nine months.

China's demand for oil remains strong, however, with its September imports reflecting a 10.8 per cent&nbsp;rise from a year earlier as refiners ramped up output amid stable profit margins and solid fuel demand.

Oil prices eased on Monday as scant details on the first phase of a trade deal between the United States and China undercut last week's optimism over the thaw that helped to lift crude markets by 2 per cent.

Oil prices eased on Monday as scant details on the first phase of a trade deal between the United States and China undercut last week's optimism over the thaw that helped to lift crude markets by 2 per cent. Brent crude futures edged down by 25 cents to $60.26 a barrel by 0436 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures was at $54.45 a barrel, down 25 cents. Both contracts rose more than 3 per cent last week, their first weekly gain in three. "There is an argument that the oil market trading during US hours on Friday have already had a chance to price (in) the news on the trade dispute and the better outlook for global demand," said CMC Markets chief strategist Michael McCarthy. "So traders are reluctant to push it further given those very strong gains." Most of the gains posted on Friday, however, had come after an Iranian oil tanker was attacked off Saudi Arabia's coast in the Red Sea. Investigations are under way to determine if the tanker was hit by missiles, which could ratchet up tensions between Tehran and Riyadh if confirmed. The emergence of a "Phase 1" trade deal between the United States and China and a goodwill move by Washington to suspend threatened tariffs on Chinese products also helped to lifted global financial markets on Monday. But investors remained cautious given that few details emerged from the talks. "Traders view the deal in a tentative light ... This baby-step agreement could take weeks to iron out," said Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific market strategist at AxiTrader in a note. The trade war has pressure China's trade, with its exports to the United States falling 10.7 per cent from a year earlier in dollar terms over January-September, Chinese customs spokesman Li Kuiwen told reporters. China's imports from the United States, on the other hand, have fallen 26.4 per cent in dollar terms during the first nine months. China's demand for oil remains strong, however, with its September imports reflecting a 10.8 per cent rise from a year earlier as refiners ramped up output amid stable profit margins and solid fuel demand.

Oil prices ease on scant details of US-China trade deal

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/gold-prices-steady-as-market-awaits-united-states-employment-report-253433">Gold prices on Wednesday</a> held on to the previous session's gains, as fading hopes for progress in US-China trade talks hit risk appetite, while markets also awaited clues on monetary easing by the US&nbsp;Federal Reserve.

Spot gold rose 0.4 per cent&nbsp;to $1,510.50 per ounce as of 0723 GMT, and stood its ground above $1,500 after jumping as much as 1 per cent&nbsp;in the previous session. US&nbsp;gold futures gained 0.8 per cent&nbsp;to $1,516.20 per ounce.

"The market is holding back, and looking at what's going to happen in the US-China trade talks on Thursday... If the trade dispute turns worse, we are going to expect some strong risk-off trade," said Phillip Futures analyst Benjamin Lu.

"The players who were short, rolled back on their positions. We are also seeing some weakness on the equity side."

The United States on Tuesday imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials for the detention or abuse of Muslim minorities, angering Beijing ahead of high-level trade talks on Thursday and Friday, and sending Asian stocks lower.

The dollar was a shade lower against a basket of major currencies.

US&nbsp;President Donald Trump has said tariffs on Chinese imports will rise on October&nbsp;15 if no progress is made in the negotiations.

The US&nbsp;Treasury yield curve steepened in Asia after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled further interest rate cuts and the resumption of bond purchases to address a recent spike in money market rates.

Lower interest rates generally reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold and weigh on the dollar.

"With the latest QE-lite measures, we expect in flow of funds into gold-backed ETFs to continue, which is likely to push gold prices higher. We maintain that gold prices may test as high as $1,600/oz in this period of uncertainty," OCBC Bank said in a research note.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/gold-prices-dip-as-fears-of-widening-trade-war-ease-252730">Signals are mixed for spot gold, as it failed to break a support at $1,488 per ounce</a>, said Reuters market analyst, Wang Tao.

"The psychological $1,500 pivot looms as the first key support for gold, however expect to see interest extend as far as $1,485," MKS PAMP said in a note.

Meanwhile, silver gained 1.2 per cent&nbsp;to $17.91 an ounce, while platinum rose 0.4 per cent&nbsp;to $892.99. Palladium declined 0.2 per cent&nbsp;to $1,673.17 an ounce.

Gold prices on Wednesday held on to the previous session's gains, as fading hopes for progress in US-China trade talks hit risk appetite, while markets also awaited clues on monetary easing by the US Federal Reserve.

Gold prices on Wednesday held on to the previous session's gains, as fading hopes for progress in US-China trade talks hit risk appetite, while markets also awaited clues on monetary easing by the US Federal Reserve. Spot gold rose 0.4 per cent to $1,510.50 per ounce as of 0723 GMT, and stood its ground above $1,500 after jumping as much as 1 per cent in the previous session. US gold futures gained 0.8 per cent to $1,516.20 per ounce. "The market is holding back, and looking at what's going to happen in the US-China trade talks on Thursday... If the trade dispute turns worse, we are going to expect some strong risk-off trade," said Phillip Futures analyst Benjamin Lu. "The players who were short, rolled back on their positions. We are also seeing some weakness on the equity side." The United States on Tuesday imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials for the detention or abuse of Muslim minorities, angering Beijing ahead of high-level trade talks on Thursday and Friday, and sending Asian stocks lower. The dollar was a shade lower against a basket of major currencies. US President Donald Trump has said tariffs on Chinese imports will rise on October 15 if no progress is made in the negotiations. The US Treasury yield curve steepened in Asia after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled further interest rate cuts and the resumption of bond purchases to address a recent spike in money market rates. Lower interest rates generally reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold and weigh on the dollar. "With the latest QE-lite measures, we expect in flow of funds into gold-backed ETFs to continue, which is likely to push gold prices higher. We maintain that gold prices may test as high as $1,600/oz in this period of uncertainty," OCBC Bank said in a research note. Signals are mixed for spot gold, as it failed to break a support at $1,488 per ounce, said Reuters market analyst, Wang Tao. "The psychological $1,500 pivot looms as the first key support for gold, however expect to see interest extend as far as $1,485," MKS PAMP said in a note. Meanwhile, silver gained 1.2 per cent to $17.91 an ounce, while platinum rose 0.4 per cent to $892.99. Palladium declined 0.2 per cent to $1,673.17 an ounce.

Gold holds firm as optimism fades for US-China trade talks

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-china-trade-war-to-knock-05-points-off-global-growth-french-finance-minister-247859">High-level US-China trade negotiations</a> will resume this week in Washington, the White House announced Monday, a hopeful sign after a summer of deteriorating relations.

With eight days to go before the next round of punitive tariffs is due to hit, Beijing's top trade envoy Liu He will meet with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin beginning Thursday, the White House said in a statement.

Lower-level talks have been underway since last month.

The discussions will focus on areas where Washington has made far-reaching demands since last year: intellectual property rights, the forced transfer of proprietary technologies, agriculture and enforcement, the statement said.

US President Donald Trump said Friday there was a "very good chance" the two sides will strike a deal.

"We have had good moments with China and bad moments with China," he said. "What we're doing is we're negotiating a very tough deal. If the deal is not going to be 100 per cent for us we aren't going to make it."

However, Washington and Beijing are continuing to raise tariffs, with the next round of increases set to take effect October 15, as US tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods rise to 30 per cent.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trade-talks-seen-as-unlikely-to-mend-us-china-divide-250119">Trump has claimed China's weakening economy puts Beijing under pressure to make a deal</a>.&nbsp;

But he also has said Chinese officials are dragging their feet in hopes of continuing negotiations with another administration should Trump fail to win reelection in 2020.

White House economic aide Larry Kudlow Monday denied that recent economic data showed the lingering trade war has damaged the US economy, saying the effect had been "minimum," a position most economists dispute.

Unemployment in September fell to its lowest level in 50 years but US manufacturing has fallen into recession, and GDP growth is forecast to slow considerably.

Trump is now the subject of an impeachment inquiry by congressional Democrats after pressuring Ukrainian authorities earlier this year to investigate his Democratic rival Joe Biden and son Hunter, whom Trump accuses of financial wrongdoing.

Trump last week raised the stakes openly calling on Beijing to do likewise.

But Kudlow&nbsp;told reporters there was no connection between the trade talks and Trump's call for China to investigate Biden.

"There'll be no linkage," he said. "I guarantee it."

High-level US-China trade negotiations will resume this week in Washington, the White House announced Monday, a hopeful sign after a summer of deteriorating relations.

High-level US-China trade negotiations will resume this week in Washington, the White House announced Monday, a hopeful sign after a summer of deteriorating relations. With eight days to go before the next round of punitive tariffs is due to hit, Beijing's top trade envoy Liu He will meet with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin beginning Thursday, the White House said in a statement. Lower-level talks have been underway since last month. The discussions will focus on areas where Washington has made far-reaching demands since last year: intellectual property rights, the forced transfer of proprietary technologies, agriculture and enforcement, the statement said. US President Donald Trump said Friday there was a "very good chance" the two sides will strike a deal. "We have had good moments with China and bad moments with China," he said. "What we're doing is we're negotiating a very tough deal. If the deal is not going to be 100 per cent for us we aren't going to make it." However, Washington and Beijing are continuing to raise tariffs, with the next round of increases set to take effect October 15, as US tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods rise to 30 per cent. Trump has claimed China's weakening economy puts Beijing under pressure to make a deal. But he also has said Chinese officials are dragging their feet in hopes of continuing negotiations with another administration should Trump fail to win reelection in 2020. White House economic aide Larry Kudlow Monday denied that recent economic data showed the lingering trade war has damaged the US economy, saying the effect had been "minimum," a position most economists dispute. Unemployment in September fell to its lowest level in 50 years but US manufacturing has fallen into recession, and GDP growth is forecast to slow considerably. Trump is now the subject of an impeachment inquiry by congressional Democrats after pressuring Ukrainian authorities earlier this year to investigate his Democratic rival Joe Biden and son Hunter, whom Trump accuses of financial wrongdoing. Trump last week raised the stakes openly calling on Beijing to do likewise. But Kudlow told reporters there was no connection between the trade talks and Trump's call for China to investigate Biden. "There'll be no linkage," he said. "I guarantee it."

US-China trade talks to resume Thursday: White House

Spot gold was down 0.2 per cent at $1,494.30 per ounce, as of 0104 GMT. In the previous session, prices fell to their lowest since September&nbsp;18 at $1,486.60.

US&nbsp;gold futures were 0.2 per cent&nbsp;lower at $1,503.3 per ounce.

China hopes Beijing and Washington will resolve their trade dispute "with a calm and rational attitude", Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said on Sunday, ahead of talks in two weeks between the two sides.

President Donald Trump's administration is considering delisting Chinese companies from US&nbsp;stock exchanges, three sources briefed on the matter said on Friday, in what would be a radical escalation of US-China trade tensions.

The United States does not currently plan to stop Chinese companies from listing on US&nbsp;exchanges, Bloomberg reported on Saturday, citing a US&nbsp;Treasury official.

US&nbsp;consumer spending barely rose in August and business investment remained subdued amid lingering trade tensions, prompting economists to slash their economic growth estimates for the third quarter.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker said in New York on Friday he opposed the central bank's September rate cut and thinks the Fed should "hold firm" on interest rates.

Boris Johnson said on Sunday <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/british-pm-boris-johnson-vows-to-stay-put-to-hit-october-31-brexit-deadline-252702">he would not quit as Britain's Prime Minister</a> even if he fails to secure a deal to leave the European Union, insisting only his Conservative government can deliver Brexit on October 31.

Saudi Arabia's crown prince warned in an interview broadcast on Sunday that oil prices could spike to "unimaginably high numbers" if the world does not come together to deter Iran, but said he would prefer a political solution to a military one.

SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.22 per cent&nbsp;to 922.88 tonnes on Friday.

Hedge funds and money managers raised their bullish positions in COMEX gold and reduced bullish bets on silver contracts in the week to September&nbsp;24, the US&nbsp;Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday.

Spot gold was down 0.2 per cent at $1,494.30 per ounce, as of 0104 GMT. In the previous session, prices fell to their lowest since September 18 at $1,486.60. US gold futures were 0.

Spot gold was down 0.2 per cent at $1,494.30 per ounce, as of 0104 GMT. In the previous session, prices fell to their lowest since September 18 at $1,486.60. US gold futures were 0.2 per cent lower at $1,503.3 per ounce. China hopes Beijing and Washington will resolve their trade dispute "with a calm and rational attitude", Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said on Sunday, ahead of talks in two weeks between the two sides. President Donald Trump's administration is considering delisting Chinese companies from US stock exchanges, three sources briefed on the matter said on Friday, in what would be a radical escalation of US-China trade tensions. The United States does not currently plan to stop Chinese companies from listing on US exchanges, Bloomberg reported on Saturday, citing a US Treasury official. US consumer spending barely rose in August and business investment remained subdued amid lingering trade tensions, prompting economists to slash their economic growth estimates for the third quarter. Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker said in New York on Friday he opposed the central bank's September rate cut and thinks the Fed should "hold firm" on interest rates. Boris Johnson said on Sunday he would not quit as Britain's Prime Minister even if he fails to secure a deal to leave the European Union, insisting only his Conservative government can deliver Brexit on October 31. Saudi Arabia's crown prince warned in an interview broadcast on Sunday that oil prices could spike to "unimaginably high numbers" if the world does not come together to deter Iran, but said he would prefer a political solution to a military one. SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.22 per cent to 922.88 tonnes on Friday. Hedge funds and money managers raised their bullish positions in COMEX gold and reduced bullish bets on silver contracts in the week to September 24, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday.

Gold prices dip as fears of widening trade war ease

China warned on Monday of instability in international markets from any "decoupling" of China and the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/giuliani-says-trump-did-not-pay-for-his-push-for-biden-probe-252746">United States</a>, after sources said the Trump administration was considering delisting Chinese companies from US&nbsp;stock exchanges.

US&nbsp;President Donald Trump's administration is considering the move, three sources briefed on the matter said on Friday, in what would be a radical escalation of US-China trade tensions.

It would be part of a broader effort to <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-considers-delisting-chinese-firms-from-us-markets-sources-252565">limit US&nbsp;investment in Chinese companies</a>, two of the sources said. One said it was motivated by the Trump administration's growing security concerns about the companies' activities.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he had noted the reports on delisting and the response from the US&nbsp;Treasury, which said there were no plans to block Chinese listings "at this time".

China-US&nbsp;trade and financial cooperation is mutually beneficial, Geng told a daily news briefing.

"Exerting maximum pressure and even seeking the forced decoupling of China-US&nbsp;relations will harm the interests of Chinese and American companies and people, create turmoil in financial markets, and endanger global trade and economic growth," he added.

"This does not accord with the interests of the international community", he further said.

Geng said he hoped the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/like-every-american-i-deserve-to-meet-my-accuser-donald-trump-252710">United States</a> would work with China to deepen economic and financial cooperation, and that the United States would take a "constructive attitude" toward resolving differences.

The United States and China have been locked in an escalating trade war for over a year. They have levied punitive duties on hundreds of billions of dollars of each other's goods, roiling financial markets and threatening global growth.

In June, US&nbsp;lawmakers from both parties introduced a bill to force <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/hong-kong-clashes-as-china-70th-anniversary-celebrations-near-252714">Chinese companies</a> listed on American stock exchanges to submit to regulatory oversight, including providing access to audits, or face delisting.

Chinese authorities have long been reluctant to let overseas regulators inspect local accounting firms - including member firms of the Big Four international accounting networks - citing national security concerns.

China and the United States are due to resume high-level talks next week in Washington on their increasingly bitter trade war.

China hopes Beijing and Washington will resolve their trade dispute "with a calm and rational attitude", Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen, who has been part of China's negotiating team, said on Sunday.

China warned on Monday of instability in international markets from any "decoupling" of China and the United States, after sources said the Trump administration was considering delisting Chinese companies from US stock exchanges.

China warned on Monday of instability in international markets from any "decoupling" of China and the United States, after sources said the Trump administration was considering delisting Chinese companies from US stock exchanges. US President Donald Trump's administration is considering the move, three sources briefed on the matter said on Friday, in what would be a radical escalation of US-China trade tensions. It would be part of a broader effort to limit US investment in Chinese companies, two of the sources said. One said it was motivated by the Trump administration's growing security concerns about the companies' activities. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he had noted the reports on delisting and the response from the US Treasury, which said there were no plans to block Chinese listings "at this time". China-US trade and financial cooperation is mutually beneficial, Geng told a daily news briefing. "Exerting maximum pressure and even seeking the forced decoupling of China-US relations will harm the interests of Chinese and American companies and people, create turmoil in financial markets, and endanger global trade and economic growth," he added. "This does not accord with the interests of the international community", he further said. Geng said he hoped the United States would work with China to deepen economic and financial cooperation, and that the United States would take a "constructive attitude" toward resolving differences. The United States and China have been locked in an escalating trade war for over a year. They have levied punitive duties on hundreds of billions of dollars of each other's goods, roiling financial markets and threatening global growth. In June, US lawmakers from both parties introduced a bill to force Chinese companies listed on American stock exchanges to submit to regulatory oversight, including providing access to audits, or face delisting. Chinese authorities have long been reluctant to let overseas regulators inspect local accounting firms - including member firms of the Big Four international accounting networks - citing national security concerns. China and the United States are due to resume high-level talks next week in Washington on their increasingly bitter trade war. China hopes Beijing and Washington will resolve their trade dispute "with a calm and rational attitude", Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen, who has been part of China's negotiating team, said on Sunday.

On US' delisting threat, China says 'decoupling' would harm both sides

China wants to join as soon as possible <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/hong-kong-protesters-set-busy-schedule-ahead-of-china-national-day-252568">an international arms treaty</a> that the United States has spurned, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, adding it was China's responsibility to take part as a member of the international community.

US&nbsp;President Donald Trump has said he intends to revoke the US&nbsp;signature to the treaty, which regulates the $70 billion global cross-border trade in conventional arms and seeks to keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers.

So far, 104 countries have joined the pact, which the General Assembly approved in 2013. Then-US&nbsp;President Barack Obama had signed it but it was opposed by the National Rifle Association and other conservative groups and never ratified by the U.S. Senate.

Speaking at the United Nations on Friday, the Chinese government's top diplomat State Councillor Wang Yi said China has initiated domestic legal procedures to join the Arms Trade Treaty.

China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement following Wang's announcement that the country was striving to join the treaty "as soon as possible".

This is an important action for <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/in-swipe-at-trump-china-tells-un-tariffs-could-plunge-world-into-recession-252572">China to actively participate</a> in the governance of the global arms trade governance and reflects China's determination to support multilateralism, it said.

China has always attached great importance to the issue of illegal arms sales and their misuse, and supports the purposes and objectives of the treaty, the ministry added.

"As a responsible member of the international family, China is willing to continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with all parties and work together to build a standardised and reasonable arms trade order and make positive contributions to maintaining international and regional peace and stability."

Since the two countries embarked on a trade war, China has frequently rebuked the United States for its withdrawal from international treaties and not playing by the rules, seeking to portray China as a staunch defender of multilateralism.

China was the fifth-largest global arms exporter between 2014 and 2018, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, though China itself does not publish figures for how many arms it exports.

During that period <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/pakistan-called-out-by-us-for-staying-mum-over-chinas-treatment-of-muslims-252323">China delivered major arms to 53 countries</a>, with Pakistan the main recipient followed by Bangladesh, according to the think-tank.

After years of steep increases in military spending and cash injections into domestic contractors, experts say some Chinese-made equipment is now comparable to Russian or Western counterparts, though accurate information about the performance of Chinese weapons is scarce.

China faces bans on Western military imports, dating back to anger over its crushing of pro-democracy protests in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989. That makes its domestic arms industry crucial in assembling a modern military that can enforce claims over self-ruled Taiwan and disputed maritime territories.

China wants to join as soon as possible an international arms treaty that the United States has spurned, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, adding it was China's responsibility to take part as a member of the international community.

China wants to join as soon as possible an international arms treaty that the United States has spurned, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, adding it was China's responsibility to take part as a member of the international community. US President Donald Trump has said he intends to revoke the US signature to the treaty, which regulates the $70 billion global cross-border trade in conventional arms and seeks to keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers. So far, 104 countries have joined the pact, which the General Assembly approved in 2013. Then-US President Barack Obama had signed it but it was opposed by the National Rifle Association and other conservative groups and never ratified by the U.S. Senate. Speaking at the United Nations on Friday, the Chinese government's top diplomat State Councillor Wang Yi said China has initiated domestic legal procedures to join the Arms Trade Treaty. China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement following Wang's announcement that the country was striving to join the treaty "as soon as possible". This is an important action for China to actively participate in the governance of the global arms trade governance and reflects China's determination to support multilateralism, it said. China has always attached great importance to the issue of illegal arms sales and their misuse, and supports the purposes and objectives of the treaty, the ministry added. "As a responsible member of the international family, China is willing to continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with all parties and work together to build a standardised and reasonable arms trade order and make positive contributions to maintaining international and regional peace and stability." Since the two countries embarked on a trade war, China has frequently rebuked the United States for its withdrawal from international treaties and not playing by the rules, seeking to portray China as a staunch defender of multilateralism. China was the fifth-largest global arms exporter between 2014 and 2018, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, though China itself does not publish figures for how many arms it exports. During that period China delivered major arms to 53 countries, with Pakistan the main recipient followed by Bangladesh, according to the think-tank. After years of steep increases in military spending and cash injections into domestic contractors, experts say some Chinese-made equipment is now comparable to Russian or Western counterparts, though accurate information about the performance of Chinese weapons is scarce. China faces bans on Western military imports, dating back to anger over its crushing of pro-democracy protests in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989. That makes its domestic arms industry crucial in assembling a modern military that can enforce claims over self-ruled Taiwan and disputed maritime territories.

China aims to join US-spurned arms treaty as soon as possible

President Donald Trump's administration is considering delisting Chinese companies from US&nbsp;stock exchanges, three sources briefed on the matter said on Friday, in what would be a radical escalation of <a href="Asian markets slip amidst US-China trade war">US-China trade tensions</a>.

The move would be part of a broader effort to limit US&nbsp;investment in Chinese companies, two of the sources said. One said it was motivated by the Trump administration's growing security concerns about the companies' activities.

Major US&nbsp;stock indexes slipped on the news, which came days before China celebrates the 70th anniversary of the birth of the People's Republic on October&nbsp;1, when the world's No. 2 economy will shut down for a week of festivities.

Shares of Hangzhou, Zhejiang-based Alibaba ended down 5.15 per cent. JD.com fell by 5.95 per cent&nbsp;and Baidu Inc declined by 3.67 per cent. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF shed 1.15 per cent.

Shares of New York Stock Exchange-owner Intercontinental Exchange Inc ended down 1.88 per cent&nbsp;and shares of Nasdaq Inc declined by 1.70 per cent.

It was not immediately clear how any delisting would work.

In June, US&nbsp;lawmakers from both parties introduced a bill to force <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinas-exports-fall-in-august-as-us-trade-war-rumbles-248393">Chinese companies</a>&nbsp;listed on American stock exchanges to submit to regulatory oversight, including providing access to audits, or face delisting.

Chinese authorities have long been reluctant to let overseas regulators inspect local accounting firms - including member firms of the Big Four international accounting networks - citing national security concerns.

"Beijing should no longer be allowed to shield US-listed Chinese companies from complying with American laws and regulations for financial transparency and accountability," Republican Senator Marco Rubio said at the time.

One of the sources briefed on the matter said the idea of delisting was the latest salvo in this longstanding dispute.

"This is a very high priority for the administration. Chinese companies not complying with the PCAOB (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board) process poses risks to US&nbsp;investors," the source said.

Any plan is subject to approval by Trump, who has given the green light to the discussion, Bloomberg reported, citing a person close to the deliberations.

Officials are also examining how the United States could put limits on Chinese companies included in stock indexes managed by US&nbsp;firms, the agency cited three sources as saying.

No decision or action is imminent, two sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters.

As of February, 156 Chinese companies were listed on the NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchanges, according to US&nbsp;government data, including at least 11 state-owned firms.&nbsp;

NYSE declined to comment on Friday, while Nasdaq, MSCI, S&amp;P and FTSE Russell did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

China's yuan currency, traded in offshore markets, fell against the dollar after the news to trade near its weakest against the greenback in about three weeks.

Ploy?

Trade talks between the United States and China are expected to be held October&nbsp;10-11 after months of tit-for-tat moves by both sides which have weakened global growth and driven rollercoaster moves in markets.

While the idea of delisting could be a manoeuvre ahead of those talks, the main aim was to counteract the civilian-military fusion of Chinese technology firms, the Made in China 2025 industrial development programme targeting key industries for domination and a growing surveillance state in Xinjiang, one of the sources said.

The source said there are longstanding concerns about US&nbsp;capital enabling these activities, especially as the lines blur between state-owned and private companies in China.

"It's all very disruptive, it just adds to uncertainty and it's a big negative for business investment," said Scott Brown, chief economist at investment bank Raymond James. He noted, however, that both sides have used aggressive moves in the past ahead of talks.

"You never know if it's a ploy to get some leverage," he said.

Trump on Tuesday criticized Beijing's trade practices in a speech at the United Nations, but the next day stoked hopes that the nearly 15-month standoff could be nearing an end.

"They want to make a deal very badly ... It could happen sooner than you think," he told reporters in New York on Wednesday.

China says it cannot allow its companies to submit to oversight by PCOAB because of rules prohibiting the storage, processing or transfer of any material considered to be state secrets or national security matters.

US hedge fund manager Kyle Bass, a prominent critic of China, said on Friday that <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinas-exports-fall-in-august-as-us-trade-war-rumbles-248393">Chinese companies should have to play by US</a>&nbsp;rules if they want to sell to US&nbsp;investors.

"The US&nbsp;should require any securities sold in the US to adhere to US Securities Laws. Crazy huh?" Bass wrote on Twitter.

President Donald Trump's administration is considering delisting Chinese companies from US stock exchanges, three sources briefed on the matter said on Friday, in what would be a radical escalation of US-China trade tensions.

President Donald Trump's administration is considering delisting Chinese companies from US stock exchanges, three sources briefed on the matter said on Friday, in what would be a radical escalation of US-China trade tensions. The move would be part of a broader effort to limit US investment in Chinese companies, two of the sources said. One said it was motivated by the Trump administration's growing security concerns about the companies' activities. Major US stock indexes slipped on the news, which came days before China celebrates the 70th anniversary of the birth of the People's Republic on October 1, when the world's No. 2 economy will shut down for a week of festivities. Shares of Hangzhou, Zhejiang-based Alibaba ended down 5.15 per cent. JD.com fell by 5.95 per cent and Baidu Inc declined by 3.67 per cent. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF shed 1.15 per cent. Shares of New York Stock Exchange-owner Intercontinental Exchange Inc ended down 1.88 per cent and shares of Nasdaq Inc declined by 1.70 per cent. It was not immediately clear how any delisting would work. In June, US lawmakers from both parties introduced a bill to force Chinese companies listed on American stock exchanges to submit to regulatory oversight, including providing access to audits, or face delisting. Chinese authorities have long been reluctant to let overseas regulators inspect local accounting firms - including member firms of the Big Four international accounting networks - citing national security concerns. "Beijing should no longer be allowed to shield US-listed Chinese companies from complying with American laws and regulations for financial transparency and accountability," Republican Senator Marco Rubio said at the time. One of the sources briefed on the matter said the idea of delisting was the latest salvo in this longstanding dispute. "This is a very high priority for the administration. Chinese companies not complying with the PCAOB (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board) process poses risks to US investors," the source said. Any plan is subject to approval by Trump, who has given the green light to the discussion, Bloomberg reported, citing a person close to the deliberations. Officials are also examining how the United States could put limits on Chinese companies included in stock indexes managed by US firms, the agency cited three sources as saying. No decision or action is imminent, two sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters. As of February, 156 Chinese companies were listed on the NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchanges, according to US government data, including at least 11 state-owned firms. NYSE declined to comment on Friday, while Nasdaq, MSCI, S&P and FTSE Russell did not immediately respond to requests for comment. China's yuan currency, traded in offshore markets, fell against the dollar after the news to trade near its weakest against the greenback in about three weeks. Ploy? Trade talks between the United States and China are expected to be held October 10-11 after months of tit-for-tat moves by both sides which have weakened global growth and driven rollercoaster moves in markets. While the idea of delisting could be a manoeuvre ahead of those talks, the main aim was to counteract the civilian-military fusion of Chinese technology firms, the Made in China 2025 industrial development programme targeting key industries for domination and a growing surveillance state in Xinjiang, one of the sources said. The source said there are longstanding concerns about US capital enabling these activities, especially as the lines blur between state-owned and private companies in China. "It's all very disruptive, it just adds to uncertainty and it's a big negative for business investment," said Scott Brown, chief economist at investment bank Raymond James. He noted, however, that both sides have used aggressive moves in the past ahead of talks. "You never know if it's a ploy to get some leverage," he said. Trump on Tuesday criticized Beijing's trade practices in a speech at the United Nations, but the next day stoked hopes that the nearly 15-month standoff could be nearing an end. "They want to make a deal very badly ... It could happen sooner than you think," he told reporters in New York on Wednesday. China says it cannot allow its companies to submit to oversight by PCOAB because of rules prohibiting the storage, processing or transfer of any material considered to be state secrets or national security matters. US hedge fund manager Kyle Bass, a prominent critic of China, said on Friday that Chinese companies should have to play by US rules if they want to sell to US investors. "The US should require any securities sold in the US to adhere to US Securities Laws. Crazy huh?" Bass wrote on Twitter.

Trump considers delisting Chinese firms from US markets

Global&nbsp;shares ticked&nbsp;up&nbsp;on Tuesday after US&nbsp;Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-wants-to-make-meaningful-progress-in-china-trade-talks-249287">US-China&nbsp;trade&nbsp;talks</a> will resume next month, but lingering concerns about slowing&nbsp;global&nbsp;growth tempered the overall appetite for riskier assets.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan moved&nbsp;up&nbsp;0.06 per cent, supported by 0.4 per cent&nbsp;gains in mainland Chinese shares, while Japan's Nikkei edged&nbsp;up&nbsp;0.20 per cent&nbsp;after a market holiday on Monday.

U.S. stock futures gained 0.39 per cent, helped by comments from US&nbsp;Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that US-China&nbsp;trade&nbsp;talks will resume next week. He later clarified that the negotiations will take place in two weeks.

"The comments gave a little bit of boost to sentiment, but markets are still not that optimistic either," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.

"It seems there has been a lot going on behind the scenes," he said, referring to unusual exchanges in which US&nbsp;President Donald Trump questioned a decision by his top&nbsp;trade&nbsp;negotiators to ask Chinese officials to delay a planned trip to U.S. farming regions.

That cancellation was seen by markets as a sign of fallout&nbsp;in the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trade-talks-seen-as-unlikely-to-mend-us-china-divide-250119">US-China talks</a> and sent&nbsp;share prices lower on Friday.

The dispute between the world's two largest economies has dragged on for well over a year, rattling investors and denting&nbsp;global&nbsp;growth.

Concerns over a slowing&nbsp;global&nbsp;economy remained front and centre for financial markets, as poor business activity readings from the eurozone deepened fears of a recession and suggested more stimulus was required.

"While the Nikkei was fairly well supported, we need more catalysts to further rises. That's also true for U.S. markets as well," said Takeo Kamai, Head of Execution Service at CLSA.

"While speculators have reacted to the&nbsp;trade-related headlines, real-money people appear to be staying on the sideline", Kamai added.

The euro wobbled at $1.0991, falling below key support around $1.10 and not far from a 28-month low of $1.0926 touched earlier this month.

Sterling also slipped to $1.2435, having peaked at a two-month high of $1.2582 set on Friday as&nbsp;traders looked to a Supreme Court ruling on whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson misled Queen Elizabeth over his reasons for suspending parliament this month.

The Supreme Court said that it will issue its decision at 0930 GMT on Tuesday.

The collapse of the British travel firm Thomas Cook could also put some pressure on the Pound by highlighting the weakness of British retailing.

The Y<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/asian-markets-slip-amidst-us-china-trade-war-251380">en</a>&nbsp;traded at 107.57 Yen per Dollar, having hit two-week highs of 107.32 on Monday.

US&nbsp;Treasuries yields extended their decline, with the 10-year rate falling to 1.716 per cent, edging down further from 1.908 per cent&nbsp;marked on September&nbsp;13.

Oil prices dipped slightly but were still supported by doubts on whether Saudi Arabia would be able to restore full output as it has promised after the September&nbsp;14 attacks on its facilities.

Brent crude futures fell 0.42 per cent&nbsp;to $64.50 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 0.34 per cent&nbsp;to $58.44 per barrel.

Global shares ticked up on Tuesday after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that US-China trade talks will resume next month, but lingering concerns about slowing global growth tempered the overall appetite for riskier assets.

Global shares ticked up on Tuesday after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that US-China trade talks will resume next month, but lingering concerns about slowing global growth tempered the overall appetite for riskier assets. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan moved up 0.06 per cent, supported by 0.4 per cent gains in mainland Chinese shares, while Japan's Nikkei edged up 0.20 per cent after a market holiday on Monday. U.S. stock futures gained 0.39 per cent, helped by comments from US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that US-China trade talks will resume next week. He later clarified that the negotiations will take place in two weeks. "The comments gave a little bit of boost to sentiment, but markets are still not that optimistic either," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management. "It seems there has been a lot going on behind the scenes," he said, referring to unusual exchanges in which US President Donald Trump questioned a decision by his top trade negotiators to ask Chinese officials to delay a planned trip to U.S. farming regions. That cancellation was seen by markets as a sign of fallout in the US-China talks and sent share prices lower on Friday. The dispute between the world's two largest economies has dragged on for well over a year, rattling investors and denting global growth. Concerns over a slowing global economy remained front and centre for financial markets, as poor business activity readings from the eurozone deepened fears of a recession and suggested more stimulus was required. "While the Nikkei was fairly well supported, we need more catalysts to further rises. That's also true for U.S. markets as well," said Takeo Kamai, Head of Execution Service at CLSA. "While speculators have reacted to the trade-related headlines, real-money people appear to be staying on the sideline", Kamai added. The euro wobbled at $1.0991, falling below key support around $1.10 and not far from a 28-month low of $1.0926 touched earlier this month. Sterling also slipped to $1.2435, having peaked at a two-month high of $1.2582 set on Friday as traders looked to a Supreme Court ruling on whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson misled Queen Elizabeth over his reasons for suspending parliament this month. The Supreme Court said that it will issue its decision at 0930 GMT on Tuesday. The collapse of the British travel firm Thomas Cook could also put some pressure on the Pound by highlighting the weakness of British retailing. The Yen traded at 107.57 Yen per Dollar, having hit two-week highs of 107.32 on Monday. US Treasuries yields extended their decline, with the 10-year rate falling to 1.716 per cent, edging down further from 1.908 per cent marked on September 13. Oil prices dipped slightly but were still supported by doubts on whether Saudi Arabia would be able to restore full output as it has promised after the September 14 attacks on its facilities. Brent crude futures fell 0.42 per cent to $64.50 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 0.34 per cent to $58.44 per barrel.

Global stocks inch up on trade hopes but growth fears temper gains

A <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-japan-trade-agreement-will-be-model-for-indo-pacific-pence-177013">US-Japan trade deal</a> hit a last-minute snag as Japanese officials sought assurances that the Trump administration will not impose national security tariffs on Japanese-built cars and auto parts, people familiar with the talks said on Monday.

US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-japan-agree-trade-deal-in-principle-245579">Shinzo Abe</a> have been aiming to sign a trade deal at a meeting this week during the United Nations General Assembly in New York that provides increased access to Japan for US agricultural goods and bilateral cuts in industrial goods tariffs.

But the limited trade deal is not expected to include changes to tariffs and trade rules governing autos, the biggest source of the $67.6 billion US&nbsp;trade deficit with Japan.

Trump has refrained thus far from following through on his threat to impose tariffs of up to 25 per cent&nbsp;on Japanese and European car and parts imports, citing ongoing trade negotiations with these partners.

The New York Times earlier reported that Japan was demanding a "sunset clause" that would cancel any trade benefits for the United States if Trump imposes the auto tariffs on Japanese vehicles.

Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Masato Ohtaka said that Japan still hoped to sign the US&nbsp;trade deal by the end of September and that there was still time to work out remaining issues.

"Frankly speaking, we still have some time and all my colleagues in the government are making their best efforts to actually meet this target," Ohtaka said.

"With the UN&nbsp;General Assembly meeting in mind, we are accelerating the remaining work, including the wording of a trade agreement", Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

Executives at two automakers briefed on the matter said Japan has expressed concerns about signing a deal without assurances that Trump will refrain from imposing tariffs on Japanese automotive exports as he benefits from Japanese agricultural concessions.

These people, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the issue could delay the signing of a US-Japan trade deal until subsequent weeks.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters after talks with US&nbsp;Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer that significant work was underway to finalise the deal but that he did not expect much delay beyond an end-September target signing off on the deal. He added that he expected a "good ceremony" when Abe and Trump meet.

"I think the content will not be something to worry about", Motegi said about the US threat of added tariffs on Japanese autos.

Details of the US-Japan trade deal have not been disclosed, but people familiar with it say that it will provide US&nbsp;farmers who have been battered by the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-japan-to-open-trade-talks-amid-china-deal-optimism-210692">US&nbsp;trade war with China</a> some relief through increased access to Japan, including for American beef and pork.

But some people say it will provide less than the access they would have received had the United States remained in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which Trump pulled the United States out of on his third day in office in January 2017.

The deal also includes a modernization of digital trade rules, which is expected to reinforce the US&nbsp;model of internet development, prohibiting cross-border taxation of e-commerce and data localization requirements.

Trump and Abe, a year ago at the UN&nbsp;General Assembly agreed to discuss an arrangement that protects Japanese automakers from further tariffs while negotiations are underway.

The trade deal would not require congressional approval, using a trade law provision that allows the US&nbsp;President to make executive agreements to mutually reduce tariffs with a foreign trading partner.

A US-Japan trade deal hit a last-minute snag as Japanese officials sought assurances that the Trump administration will not impose national security tariffs on Japanese-built cars and auto parts, people familiar with the talks said on Monday.

A US-Japan trade deal hit a last-minute snag as Japanese officials sought assurances that the Trump administration will not impose national security tariffs on Japanese-built cars and auto parts, people familiar with the talks said on Monday. US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have been aiming to sign a trade deal at a meeting this week during the United Nations General Assembly in New York that provides increased access to Japan for US agricultural goods and bilateral cuts in industrial goods tariffs. But the limited trade deal is not expected to include changes to tariffs and trade rules governing autos, the biggest source of the $67.6 billion US trade deficit with Japan. Trump has refrained thus far from following through on his threat to impose tariffs of up to 25 per cent on Japanese and European car and parts imports, citing ongoing trade negotiations with these partners. The New York Times earlier reported that Japan was demanding a "sunset clause" that would cancel any trade benefits for the United States if Trump imposes the auto tariffs on Japanese vehicles. Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Masato Ohtaka said that Japan still hoped to sign the US trade deal by the end of September and that there was still time to work out remaining issues. "Frankly speaking, we still have some time and all my colleagues in the government are making their best efforts to actually meet this target," Ohtaka said. "With the UN General Assembly meeting in mind, we are accelerating the remaining work, including the wording of a trade agreement", Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. Executives at two automakers briefed on the matter said Japan has expressed concerns about signing a deal without assurances that Trump will refrain from imposing tariffs on Japanese automotive exports as he benefits from Japanese agricultural concessions. These people, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the issue could delay the signing of a US-Japan trade deal until subsequent weeks. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters after talks with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer that significant work was underway to finalise the deal but that he did not expect much delay beyond an end-September target signing off on the deal. He added that he expected a "good ceremony" when Abe and Trump meet. "I think the content will not be something to worry about", Motegi said about the US threat of added tariffs on Japanese autos. Details of the US-Japan trade deal have not been disclosed, but people familiar with it say that it will provide US farmers who have been battered by the US trade war with China some relief through increased access to Japan, including for American beef and pork. But some people say it will provide less than the access they would have received had the United States remained in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which Trump pulled the United States out of on his third day in office in January 2017. The deal also includes a modernization of digital trade rules, which is expected to reinforce the US model of internet development, prohibiting cross-border taxation of e-commerce and data localization requirements. Trump and Abe, a year ago at the UN General Assembly agreed to discuss an arrangement that protects Japanese automakers from further tariffs while negotiations are underway. The trade deal would not require congressional approval, using a trade law provision that allows the US President to make executive agreements to mutually reduce tariffs with a foreign trading partner.

US-Japan trade deal hits snag as Tokyo seeks assurances on car tariffs

White House economic adviser <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-us-talks-likely-to-heat-up-in-october-meeting-kudlow-248069">Larry Kudlow </a>said on Friday the United States wants "near term" results from the US, China trade talks in September and October but cautioned that the trade conflict could take years to resolve.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Kudlow said that although the United States and China have been negotiating on trade and intellectual property issues for 18 months, that was a short period of time in terms of what was at stake and negotiations could go on much longer.

"A deal of this size and scope and central global importance, I don't think 18 months is a very long time," Kudlow said.

"The stakes are so high, we have to get it right, and if that takes a decade, so be it," Kudlow added, drawing parallels to US&nbsp;Cold War competition against the Soviet Union.

But in confirming talks between the high-level US&nbsp;and Chinese officials in early October, Kudlow declined to predict outcomes or a specific timeline for reaching any agreements.

The plans for the first in-person US and&nbsp;China trade meetings since late July were set during a phone call on Thursday between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Trade deputies are due to meet in mid-September.

'Back to May'

The 14-month <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-china-trade-war-to-knock-05-points-off-global-growth-french-finance-minister-247859">US and China trade war</a> has escalated sharply since May when talks broke down after Beijing backtracked on earlier commitments to make changes in the law to improve intellectual property protections, curb the forced transfer of US technology to Chinese firms and improve the US access to Chinese markets.

Since then, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-bullish-on-china-tariffs-but-aide-warns-of-long-haul-248138">US&nbsp;President Donald Trump</a> has sharply increased existing tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and imposed or scheduled new tariffs on virtually all remaining imports from China to increase his negotiating leverage.

Kudlow told Bloomberg TV that he could not speculate on whether the September or October talks could delay a planned tariff increase on October&nbsp;1 to 30 per cent&nbsp;from 25 per cent&nbsp;on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods.

"We would like to go back to where we were last May, but I don't know if that's possible, and I don't want to predict any outcomes. This is a difficult matter," told reporters at the White House.

He also said that it was important that Chinese reforms be reflected in changes to its laws and that any deal must have enforcement provisions to ensure that China lives up to its commitments.

'Everything on table'

He said on Fox Business Network that the September and October talks would cover all of the core issues in the dispute.

"Everything will be on the table. You can rest assured, for example, the absolute key structural issues the IP theft, the forced transfer of technology, the cyberspace, the clouds, financial services, all of that will be on the table&nbsp;agriculture purchases, industrial purchases, energy purchases, getting tariff and non-tariff barriers down," Kudlow said.

While there were no precondition talks, Kudlow told Bloomberg TV that the Trump administration wants "to see results in the near term."

"When we don't see results, we take additional actions," Kudlow said. "On the other hand, if we do see results from these upcoming meetings, then progress will be made."

Trump said on Twitter that China was hurting economically from the US&nbsp;tariffs but that the new round of talks was positive.

"'China is eating the Tariffs,'" Trump tweeted. "Billions pouring into the USA. Targeted Patriot Farmers getting massive Dollars from the incoming Tariffs!

Good Jobs Numbers, No Inflation(Fed). China having the worst year in decades. Talks happening, good for all!"

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday the United States wants "near term" results from the US, China trade talks in September and October but cautioned that the trade conflict could take years to resolve.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday the United States wants "near term" results from the US, China trade talks in September and October but cautioned that the trade conflict could take years to resolve. Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Kudlow said that although the United States and China have been negotiating on trade and intellectual property issues for 18 months, that was a short period of time in terms of what was at stake and negotiations could go on much longer. "A deal of this size and scope and central global importance, I don't think 18 months is a very long time," Kudlow said. "The stakes are so high, we have to get it right, and if that takes a decade, so be it," Kudlow added, drawing parallels to US Cold War competition against the Soviet Union. But in confirming talks between the high-level US and Chinese officials in early October, Kudlow declined to predict outcomes or a specific timeline for reaching any agreements. The plans for the first in-person US and China trade meetings since late July were set during a phone call on Thursday between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Trade deputies are due to meet in mid-September. 'Back to May' The 14-month US and China trade war has escalated sharply since May when talks broke down after Beijing backtracked on earlier commitments to make changes in the law to improve intellectual property protections, curb the forced transfer of US technology to Chinese firms and improve the US access to Chinese markets. Since then, US President Donald Trump has sharply increased existing tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and imposed or scheduled new tariffs on virtually all remaining imports from China to increase his negotiating leverage. Kudlow told Bloomberg TV that he could not speculate on whether the September or October talks could delay a planned tariff increase on October 1 to 30 per cent from 25 per cent on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. "We would like to go back to where we were last May, but I don't know if that's possible, and I don't want to predict any outcomes. This is a difficult matter," told reporters at the White House. He also said that it was important that Chinese reforms be reflected in changes to its laws and that any deal must have enforcement provisions to ensure that China lives up to its commitments. 'Everything on table' He said on Fox Business Network that the September and October talks would cover all of the core issues in the dispute. "Everything will be on the table. You can rest assured, for example, the absolute key structural issues the IP theft, the forced transfer of technology, the cyberspace, the clouds, financial services, all of that will be on the table agriculture purchases, industrial purchases, energy purchases, getting tariff and non-tariff barriers down," Kudlow said. While there were no precondition talks, Kudlow told Bloomberg TV that the Trump administration wants "to see results in the near term." "When we don't see results, we take additional actions," Kudlow said. "On the other hand, if we do see results from these upcoming meetings, then progress will be made." Trump said on Twitter that China was hurting economically from the US tariffs but that the new round of talks was positive. "'China is eating the Tariffs,'" Trump tweeted. "Billions pouring into the USA. Targeted Patriot Farmers getting massive Dollars from the incoming Tariffs! Good Jobs Numbers, No Inflation(Fed). China having the worst year in decades. Talks happening, good for all!"

US, China trade conflict could take years to resolve: White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow

The US economy grew at an unspectacular pace in recent weeks, while businesses still took a rosy view of the near future despite the escalating US-China trade war, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

But Fed still drew a spotty portrait, pointing to an array of softening or deteriorating conditions just as concrete signs emerge that the trade conflict is weighing on growth.

"Although concerns regarding tariffs and trade policy uncertainty continued, the majority of businesses remained optimistic about the near-term outlook," the central bank said in a nationwide survey of economic activity.

Though disagreements remain, policymakers are widely expected to cut interest rates again in two weeks to insulate the United States from the weakening global economy and mounting fears of economic damage wrought by President Donald Trump's trade wars.

The Fed cut rates last month for similar reasons, marking the first downshift for monetary policy in a decade.

The latest "beige book" survey, which gathers anecdotal reports from business people and other contacts in the Fed's 12 districts, said growth had continued "at a modest pace."&nbsp;

- Sharp deterioration -

 
The report may not have reflected all of last month's sharp deterioration in the trade conflict with Beijing, as research concluded on August 23, just as Beijing and Washington announced fresh increases on hundreds of billions of dollars in two-way trade.

According to the Fed, anecdotal reports say auto sales rose and tourism was "solid," while bank lending and commercial real estate leasing both increased a little.

Elsewhere, however, things were less than stellar. Farms were beset by a trio of woes: bad weather, low prices and uncertainties from America's trade wars.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, consumer spending the sole strong point in the US economy was "mixed" outside the auto sector, demand for transportation softened, home sales "remained constrained" and housing construction was flat.

Across the nation, employers complained they had difficulty finding workers to fill open positions and faced "strong upward pressure" to offer higher pay to entry-level and low-skill workers.

Elsewhere, employers upped benefits and other deal sweeteners, such as more flexible work arrangements and signing bonuses, according to the report.

But inflation remained tame. While some companies said they were able to pass on price increases, manufacturers complained there were limits on how much they could do so.

"District reports on the impact of tariffs on pricing were mixed, with some districts anticipating that the effects would not be felt for a few months," the report said.

The US economy grew at an unspectacular pace in recent weeks, while businesses still took a rosy view of the near future despite the escalating US-China trade war, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

The US economy grew at an unspectacular pace in recent weeks, while businesses still took a rosy view of the near future despite the escalating US-China trade war, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday. But Fed still drew a spotty portrait, pointing to an array of softening or deteriorating conditions just as concrete signs emerge that the trade conflict is weighing on growth. "Although concerns regarding tariffs and trade policy uncertainty continued, the majority of businesses remained optimistic about the near-term outlook," the central bank said in a nationwide survey of economic activity. Though disagreements remain, policymakers are widely expected to cut interest rates again in two weeks to insulate the United States from the weakening global economy and mounting fears of economic damage wrought by President Donald Trump's trade wars. The Fed cut rates last month for similar reasons, marking the first downshift for monetary policy in a decade. The latest "beige book" survey, which gathers anecdotal reports from business people and other contacts in the Fed's 12 districts, said growth had continued "at a modest pace." - Sharp deterioration - The report may not have reflected all of last month's sharp deterioration in the trade conflict with Beijing, as research concluded on August 23, just as Beijing and Washington announced fresh increases on hundreds of billions of dollars in two-way trade. According to the Fed, anecdotal reports say auto sales rose and tourism was "solid," while bank lending and commercial real estate leasing both increased a little. Elsewhere, however, things were less than stellar. Farms were beset by a trio of woes: bad weather, low prices and uncertainties from America's trade wars. Meanwhile, consumer spending the sole strong point in the US economy was "mixed" outside the auto sector, demand for transportation softened, home sales "remained constrained" and housing construction was flat. Across the nation, employers complained they had difficulty finding workers to fill open positions and faced "strong upward pressure" to offer higher pay to entry-level and low-skill workers. Elsewhere, employers upped benefits and other deal sweeteners, such as more flexible work arrangements and signing bonuses, according to the report. But inflation remained tame. While some companies said they were able to pass on price increases, manufacturers complained there were limits on how much they could do so. "District reports on the impact of tariffs on pricing were mixed, with some districts anticipating that the effects would not be felt for a few months," the report said.

US sees 'modest' growth, businesses show 'near-term' optimism: Fed

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he would not stand in the way of beleaguered Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell if he decided to quit.&nbsp;

Asked if he wants Powell to resign, Trump told reporters,&nbsp;"If he did, I wouldn't stop him."

Trump suggested earlier Friday that he regarded Powell as a bigger "enemy" than China, with whom he has been waging a trade war.

China announced Friday new tariffs on $75 billion in US products and President Donald Trump lashed out with threats of further retaliation, meaning the trade uncertainty that Powell said is exacerbating the global slowdown is unlikely to go away soon.

Trump lost no time in criticizing Powell -- and swiping at Beijing.

In a furious flurry of tweets, Trump attacked the Fed's stewardship of the world's biggest economy and vowed a quick response to China.

"As usual, the Fed did NOTHING! It is incredible that they can 'speak' without knowing or asking what I am doing, which will be announced shortly. We have a very strong dollar and a very weak Fed," Trump tweeted after Powell's comments.

"My only question is, who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powel or Chairman Xi?" Trump said, misspelling the Fed chief's name in an unprecedented attack on the independent central bank.

The Fed cut the benchmark interest rate last month for the first time in more than a decade, partly as insurance against the impact of trade uncertainties on the economy.

But in his hotly anticipated speech to an annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell cautioned that the Fed has no "rulebook" for dealing with the trade war fallout.

"The three weeks since our July FOMC meeting have been eventful, beginning with the announcement of new tariffs on imports from China," he said.

"The global growth outlook has been deteriorating since the middle of last year. Trade policy uncertainty seems to be playing a role in the global slowdown and in weak manufacturing and capital spending in the United States."

While Powell said the US economy "is now in a favorable place," it faces "significant risks" and he again pledged that the Fed "will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion."&nbsp;

However, he warned that there is no "settled rulebook for international trade ... no recent precedents to guide any policy response to the current situation."

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he would not stand in the way of beleaguered Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell if he decided to quit. Asked if he wants Powell to resign, Trump told reporters, "If he did, I wouldn't stop him.

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he would not stand in the way of beleaguered Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell if he decided to quit. Asked if he wants Powell to resign, Trump told reporters, "If he did, I wouldn't stop him." Trump suggested earlier Friday that he regarded Powell as a bigger "enemy" than China, with whom he has been waging a trade war. China announced Friday new tariffs on $75 billion in US products and President Donald Trump lashed out with threats of further retaliation, meaning the trade uncertainty that Powell said is exacerbating the global slowdown is unlikely to go away soon. Trump lost no time in criticizing Powell -- and swiping at Beijing. In a furious flurry of tweets, Trump attacked the Fed's stewardship of the world's biggest economy and vowed a quick response to China. "As usual, the Fed did NOTHING! It is incredible that they can 'speak' without knowing or asking what I am doing, which will be announced shortly. We have a very strong dollar and a very weak Fed," Trump tweeted after Powell's comments. "My only question is, who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powel or Chairman Xi?" Trump said, misspelling the Fed chief's name in an unprecedented attack on the independent central bank. The Fed cut the benchmark interest rate last month for the first time in more than a decade, partly as insurance against the impact of trade uncertainties on the economy. But in his hotly anticipated speech to an annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell cautioned that the Fed has no "rulebook" for dealing with the trade war fallout. "The three weeks since our July FOMC meeting have been eventful, beginning with the announcement of new tariffs on imports from China," he said. "The global growth outlook has been deteriorating since the middle of last year. Trade policy uncertainty seems to be playing a role in the global slowdown and in weak manufacturing and capital spending in the United States." While Powell said the US economy "is now in a favorable place," it faces "significant risks" and he again pledged that the Fed "will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion." However, he warned that there is no "settled rulebook for international trade ... no recent precedents to guide any policy response to the current situation."

Trump says he  'wouldn't stop' if beleaguered Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell decides to quit 

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