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Climate change is impacting the Panama Canal — and the trade that moves through it

Sep 5, 2022
Officials are searching for a way to increase the flow of water without disrupting the environment and Panamanian society.
Freighters enter the Panama Canal on the Atlantic side. As droughts and storms become more common, the canal needs to find fresh sources of water and new ways to store it. 
Searagen/Getty Images

China’s efforts to address domestic problems can lead to global challenges

Restrictions on exports like fertilizer and steel have major economic ramifications for trading partners.
When the prices of fertilizer began to increase last year, China moved to restrict fertilizer exports. Above, workers move bags of fertilizer in China's northwest Qinghai province in 2005.
Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images

Could China scoop up Russian goods at bargain-basement prices because of sanctions?

Mar 8, 2022
If fewer countries want Russian goods, supply goes up and China could, in theory, get cheaper prices. It is a whole other thing in practice.
Workers sort packages at a JD.com warehouse in Beijing in November. Items have been flying off the virtual shelves of a Russian store on the Chinese e-commerce site.
Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images

London’s financial center, “the City,” prepares for bigger global role after Brexit

Jul 28, 2021
Brits widen their horizons as hopes dwindle that the U.K. will have unfettered access to the EU's financial services market.
A pedestrian passes the skyscraper informally known as the Gherkin in London's financial district, which seeks to extend its international business ties.
Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images

Global rebound drives crude oil higher

Mar 8, 2021
With West Texas Intermediate selling above $60 a barrel, drilling and pumping oil is profitable in the U.S. Permian Basin.
In the fall, the global economy came out of COVID-19 hibernation, and demand for oil and gas began to outstrip supply.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Should the dollar's drop worry you?

Jan 2, 2020
The weakened currency means imports get more expensive, but U.S. goods and services sold overseas become more affordable.
The U.S Federal Reserve started pumping more dollars into the U.S. financial system, one reason the dollar has weakened.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images

U.N. forecasts slower global growth this year. Thanks, trade war.

May 23, 2019
Analysts see the largest geopolitical risk coming from U.S.-China trade tensions.
Workers stand in line next to a container ship at a port in Qingdao in China's eastern Shandong province earlier this month.
AFP/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

The trade war impacts everything from Apple to apples

How the U.S.-China trade war is affecting agribusiness and the rest of the global economy.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

U.S. companies want more than China's free market gestures

Nov 28, 2018
Ahead of the G-20 summit, both the United States and China are signaling a potential agreement to back off the budding trade war. President Donald Trump reportedly may delay scheduled tariffs on Chinese goods, and Beijing has provided more market access to international insurance companies. But there are many issues that still need to be […]

The U.S., Japan and the EU meet to discuss China’s trade practices

Sep 25, 2018
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is scheduled to meet Tuesday in New York with trade officials from the European Union and Japan. It’s the fourth meeting they’ve held in the past year, all in an effort to join forces against Chinese trade practices they say are unfair. Click the audio player above to hear the […]
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer speaks onstage during the 2018 Concordia Annual Summit at Grand Hyatt New York on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York City.
Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit