The cost of using the Panama Canal has risen in recent years — excessively so, President Trump has asserted. The canal operator says droughts, investments in upgrades and sheer demand are among the reasons. But if Mr. Trump wrests lower canal fees out of Panama, American consumers may not feel much difference, because canal costs … Read more
At a newly built dock along Germany’s Elbe River, tankers from the United States unload liquefied natural gas to fuel factories and homes. In central Spain, a forest of wind turbines planted atop mountains helps power the energy grid. In French government buildings, thermostats have been lowered in winter to save electricity. In the three … Read more
Oil and gas companies in the United States are bracing for the possibility that President Trump will thrust their businesses into disarray and will drive up prices at the pump by imposing 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico. The United States is the world’s largest oil producer, but the country’s refineries are … Read more
In Hanoi and other Vietnamese cities at this time of year, potted kumquat trees fastened to motorbike seats dodge and weave through traffic in a haze of orange. Families buy them as symbols of luck and good fortune for the new Lunar New Year, which started on Wednesday. This year a typhoon and extreme heat … Read more
General Motors executives are closely tracking President Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, but the company is not yet making any major changes to its strategy in North America in response to the threatened tariffs. The automaker has pulled together an “extensive playbook” of possible options but won’t put them … Read more
Before Sunday, Colombia was quietly emerging as a refuge for multinational brands seeking a stable place to make their products in a time of geopolitical and environmental upheaval. President Trump’s threats to increase tariffs on imports from China was forcing companies to diminish their dependence on factories in that country. Businesses were setting up plants … Read more
When a group of prominent Chinese doctors publicly raised worries last week about the quality of domestic drugs, China’s government sent officials to investigate. But now data about the drugs that appeared on a government website as recently as Friday is no longer publicly available. A social media post from a doctor who scrutinized the … Read more
When Justin Trudeau became Canada’s prime minister in 2015, his relentless promise to improve life for the middle class resonated so strongly with Shivaan Burke that she went to work for the local Liberal member of Parliament, who was elected along with Mr. Trudeau. But a decade later, as Mr. Trudeau prepares to leave office … Read more
A rare display of public anger is unfolding in China over the quality of domestically produced drugs. A prominent Shanghai surgeon pointed to anesthetics that do not put patients to sleep. A respected Beijing cardiologist questioned blood pressure medication that failed to regulate. A former editor at a leading online health platform went as far … Read more
In a number of ways, Japan’s economy seems to have gone back in time. Inflation and wage growth are mostly back where they were in the early 1990s, just before the spiral of price deflation and economic stagnation that became known as “the lost decades.” That prompted the Bank of Japan on Friday to raise … Read more