As US President Donald Trump threatens 200% tariffs on EU booze, the resulting market turmoil caps a big week for geopolitics and trade wars that saw Australia fail to escape an exemption on steel and aluminum levies. We also saw Malcolm Turnbull unexpectedly pick a fight with Trump, saying the leader was playing right into Xi Jinping’s hands. Chris Bourke and Bloomberg’s John Liu discuss that and our relationship with China on this week’s Bloomberg Australia podcast. Listen and follow The Bloomberg Australia Podcast on Apple, Spotify, on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Terminal clients: Run {NSUB AUPOD <GO>} on your desktop to subscribe. As concern mounts over the goals and impact of Trump’s trade war, the S&P 500 has fallen into its first 10% correction in almost two years, with volatility surging across US asset classes. The gauge was at a record as recently as Feb. 19. UBS has established offshore desks to cater to its clients in Australia and Japan. The bank returned to wealth management in Australia last year after exiting almost a decade ago, tapping the Credit Suisse franchise it bought to make a renewed charge.
New Zealand is seen as a safe haven for business, the country’s Prime Minister said yesterday. The nation “will continue to be a poster child for social and political stability in a more volatile and challenging world,” Christopher Luxon told a summit in Auckland. Christopher Luxon, New Zealand's prime minister, in November. Photographer: Manuel Orbegozo/Bloomberg Rio Tinto Group is investing in Exurban, a company planning to build an Indiana plant to recover metals from mobile phones, computers and other electronic waste, just as the Trump administration’s trade policies upend global scrap flows.
Meanwhile, complacency about the energy transition represents a ‘spectacular buying opportunity,’ writes Bloomberg Opinion’s David Fickling. Far from turning its back on clean energy, Europe is redoubling its efforts, he says. |