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Tag: Donald Trump

  • Trump Signals US Dollar Bans on Chinese Banks over Iran Trade

    Trump Signals US Dollar Bans on Chinese Banks over Iran Trade

    US President Donald Trump signaled plans to bar Chinese banks from the US dollar system over their commercial transactions with Iran. The warning follows the blacklisting of 60 international entities, including firms in mainland China and Hong Kong, under an enforcement push labeled Economic D-Day.

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the initial sanctions package earlier in the week, demanding an immediate halt to commercial dealings with Tehran. The measures aim to intensify economic pressure after six months of regional conflict and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz failed to resolve through military action or negotiations.

    Dollar clearing and secondary sanctions

    Bessent stated that any institution facilitating transactions on behalf of Iranian entities faces removal from the US dollar network. The mechanism targets secondary intermediaries, putting Chinese state-owned and commercial lenders at direct risk of losing correspondent banking access in New York.

    For corporate treasuries and supply chain operators across Asia, exclusion from greenback settlement creates immediate operational friction. Trade finance across the region relies heavily on dollar-denominated letters of credit, even when settlement involves third-party energy and commodity flows originating in the Middle East.

    Pre-summit pressure on Beijing

    Commercial lenders in Beijing and Hong Kong have maintained trade settlement channels with trading partners across the Gulf. Cutting those conduits would force corporate clients to route settlement through alternative clearing channels or drop counterparties entirely to protect broader international banking books.

    The next test arrives with the scheduled bilateral summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington, where trade enforcement and financial sector access sit at the center of negotiations.

  • Trump Urges Congress to Pass Clarity Act for Cryptocurrency Regulation

    Trump Urges Congress to Pass Clarity Act for Cryptocurrency Regulation

    Former US President Donald Trump has urged Congress to pass the Clarity Act, a bipartisan legislative proposal aimed at establishing clear regulatory guidelines for the cryptocurrency sector. Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, Trump emphasized the importance of the bill for maintaining America’s leadership in digital asset innovation.

    The President convened crypto industry leaders, including executives from Coinbase, Kraken, and Robinhood, alongside regulators from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). He lauded the industry’s efforts in fostering commercial markets within the US, stating the Clarity Act would open doors for future innovation and help the country stay ahead of rivals like China.

    This move is particularly pertinent for businesses and investors in Asia who closely monitor global regulatory trends in the digital asset space. The region has seen its own efforts to clarify crypto regulations, with countries like Singapore and Hong Kong actively working on frameworks to attract and govern digital asset businesses.

    Aims of the Clarity Act

    The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act seeks to provide a definitive statutory framework for cryptocurrencies. Its core objective is to end the SEC’s practice of ‘regulation through enforcement’ by clearly defining which digital assets are securities and which are commodities. The bill also incorporates consumer protection measures, allocating approximately $150 million for anti-fraud initiatives and imposing resale restrictions on insiders to curb ‘pump-and-dump’ schemes, where asset prices are artificially inflated before being sold off.

    Currently, the legislation is stalled in the Senate due to partisan disagreements over ethics provisions. It is expected to be reconsidered when the Senate reconvenes on September 15. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong expressed strong support for the bill at the event, noting it would ensure the administration’s progress in this sector endures for decades.

    Political Opposition and Conflicts of Interest

    The Clarity Act faces significant opposition from some Democratic lawmakers, who voice concerns about potential presidential conflicts of interest. Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., criticized the bill, highlighting Trump’s substantial earnings from cryptocurrency ventures. She argued the legislation does not adequately protect investors or the financial system.

    In June, the President disclosed nearly $1.2 billion in income from his crypto businesses in 2025, including $526 million from World Liberty Financial, a venture he co-founded, and over $600 million from CIC Digital LLC, which sells souvenir ‘meme’ coins. These earnings have prompted criticism, with former Trump White House special counsel Ty Cobb suggesting the President’s involvement in these ventures, coupled with policy creation that benefits himself and his family, raises legal and ethical questions.

    Despite political hurdles, the SEC proposed a new Crypto Assets Rule on Tuesday that aims to facilitate capital raising for crypto entrepreneurs in the US. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins affirmed the agency’s support for the Clarity Act, viewing it as a critical step. Similarly, the CFTC is set to hold its first innovation advisory committee meeting on Thursday to discuss its regulatory plans, with Chairman Michael Selig underscoring that clear rules foster confidence, attract investment, and create jobs.

  • Korea’s Chief Trade Negotiator Dismissed Amid Escalating US Tariff Pressure

    Korea’s Chief Trade Negotiator Dismissed Amid Escalating US Tariff Pressure

    South Korea’s chief trade negotiator, Yeo Han-koo, has been dismissed from his role. The Ministry of Personnel Management notified Yeo of his dismissal on Friday, according to officials. This decision occurs amid heightened pressure from the United States regarding tariffs and other bilateral trade issues.

    A Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy official confirmed the dismissal but did not provide a specific reason. Despite speculation linking his departure to tariff negotiations between Seoul and Washington, a government official speaking to Yonhap News Agency stated that the dismissal was unrelated to these talks. Yeo himself addressed rumors of personal misconduct, calling them unfounded and threatening legal action against false reports.

    Mounting US Pressure

    The dismissal happens at a critical juncture for bilateral trade relations. The United States is pressing Seoul to accelerate its investment commitments under a prior tariff agreement. Also, there is an ongoing dispute concerning fines imposed on the US-listed e-commerce giant Coupang for a personal data breach.

    Just days before Yeo’s dismissal, on Thursday, US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation imposing new tariffs. These included a 15 percent levy on drones and their components imported from Korea, among other items. Yeo had previously served as trade minister under the Moon Jae-in administration and was reappointed in May 2025 by the Lee Jae Myung administration, playing a key role in trade discussions with Washington.

  • Twitter’s new policy is aimed squarely at Donald Trump

    Twitter’s new policy is aimed squarely at Donald Trump

    Many Twitter users have been complaining about several tweets disseminated by President Donald Trump. These Twitter members say that if they sent out tweets with the same insults and language used by the president, they would have had their account suspended. After all, besides giving insulting names to anyone that the thin-skinned president feels has insulted him, Trump has threatened nuclear war with North Korea, posted a video containing violence against CNN and more.

    While not mentioning Trump by name, Twitter explained in a blog post that “there are certain cases where it may be in the public’s interest to have access to certain Tweets, even if they would otherwise be in violation of our rules.” In addition, the social media site noted that “a critical function of our service is providing a place where people can openly and publicly respond to their leaders and hold them accountable.”

    “Our highest priority is to protect the health of the public conversation on Twitter, and an important part of that is ensuring our rules and how we enforce them are easy to understand. In the past, we’ve allowed certain Tweets that violated our rules to remain on Twitter because they were in the public’s interest, but it wasn’t clear when and how we made those determinations. To fix that, we’re introducing a new notice that will provide additional clarity in these situations.

    Serving the public conversation includes providing the ability for anyone to talk about what matters to them; this can be especially important when engaging with government officials and political figures. By nature of their positions, these leaders have outsized influence and sometimes say things that could be considered controversial or invite debate and discussion. A critical function of our service is providing a place where people can openly and publicly respond to their leaders and hold them accountable.”-Twitter

    Twitter’s solution is to make users go through various screens. In the “rare occasion” when it is in the public interest for Twitter to allow a tweet to remain posted even if it violates the platform’s rules, Twitter will place a notice on the tweet. This will indicate that to view such a tweet, Twitter members will have to click or tap on an additional screen. The company says that it will prevent these tweets from being “algorithmically elevated on our service, to strike the right balance between enabling free expression, fostering accountability, and reducing the potential harm caused by these Tweets.”

    So just exactly whose tweets are covered by the new policy? Government officials, those representing a government official, someone running for office or being considered for a public office are affected by the new policy if they have a verified Twitter account with more than 100,000 followers. If someone meets this criterion and sends a tweet that would normally be a violation of Twitter’s terms of service, a notice will appear that reads “The Twitter rules about abusive behavior apply to this Tweet. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest in the Tweet to remain available.” To the right of the notice will be a link marked “view;” tapping on that link will allow the tweet to be visible to the user. These tweets also will not appear in Safe search, Timeline when switched to Top Tweets, Live events pages, Recommended Tweet push notifications, Notifications tab and Explore.

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  • Major aviation deals inked as US, Vietnam presidents meet

    Major aviation deals inked as US, Vietnam presidents meet

    Three major aviation deals were signed Wednesday in the presence of Vietnamese and U.S. presidents Nguyen Phu Trong and Donald Trump. Budget airline Vietjet signed with U.S. airplane manufacturer Boeing Company a deal to buy 100 new narrow-body 737 MAX airplanes worth $12.7 billion, according to the manufacturer’s list prices.

    “The deal is an important move for us to meet our international flight network expansion plan with a higher capacity,” Vietjet president and CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao said.

    Vietjet also finalised a $5.3 billion long-term engine support agreement with General Electric for the LEAP-1B engines in its fleet.

    New airline Bamboo Airways also inked a deal with Boeing for 10 wide-body 787-9 Dreamliners worth almost $3 billion.

    The carrier, owned by property and leisure company FLC Group, had placed a provisional order last year for 20 Boeing 787 jets worth $5.6 billion at list prices.

    The new deal brings the total number of Boeing 787 that Bamboo Airways has ordered to 30, worth total value of almost $8.6 billion. First aircraft are expected to be delivered in the third quarter of next year.

    Bamboo Airways is preparing to launch flights to the U.S. from late 2019 or early 2020, after Vietnam earlier this month received a Category 1 rating from the U.S, allowing local airlines to operate direct flights to the U.S.

    “Direct flights between the two countries will not only push tourism activities, but also further facilitate bilateral trade and investment,” FLC president Trinh Van Quyet said in a statement.

    Bamboo Airways is also considering the purchase of 25 narrow-body Boeing 737 MAX worth $2.5 billion, the statement said.

    Vietnam Airlines signed a $300-million for strategic partnership deal in aviation information technology with U.S.-based technology company Sabre Corporation.

    The deal is expected to help the state-owned Vietnamese airline increase IT applications in flight management and passenger service.

    Sabre has been cooperating with Vietnam airlines for over 20 years. Last year, they had signed a $400-million aviation technology application deal.

    Vietnam’s aviation sector has been booming in recent years. Local airlines served almost 50 million passengers last year, up 10.1 percent from 2017, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.

  • Wall St rises after Trump stirs China trade hopes again

    Wall St rises after Trump stirs China trade hopes again

    Wall Street’s three major indexes ended higher on Monday but well below the session’s highs after President Donald Trump said he would delay a planned hike in tariffs on Chinese imports. Postponement of the tariff deadline was seen as the clearest sign yet the two countries were closing in on an agreement to end their prolonged trade spat, which has slowed global growth and disrupted markets.

    But gains were capped after weeks of advances for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq, partly due to trade optimism and dovish signals from the Federal Reserve.

    “A lot of the good news related to trade is priced in at this point,“ said R.J. Grant, head of trading at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in New York.

    “There’s only so much we can rally when somebody says we’re making progress … The trade stuff is a little bit of a sideshow. If you get back to looking at economic growth, it’s clearly slowing.”

    The S&P 500 index ended 4.9% below its late September record closing high after narrowing the gap to 4.3% earlier in the session.

    Investors were also looking ahead to an appearance by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell before a US Senate committee on Tuesday.

    “In the short term trade got taken off the table today so next up on the calendar is Powell speaking to Congress. It’s possible investors are starting to clam up a bit because of what they think Powell may say,“ said Michael Cuggino, portfolio manager at Permanent Portfolio Funds in San Francisco.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60.14 points, or 0.23%, to 26,091.95, the S&P 500 gained 3.44 points, or 0.12%, to 2,796.11 and the Nasdaq Composite added 26.92 points, or 0.36%, to 7,554.46.

    Investors were also wary of weakening estimates for current quarter earnings, with Wall Street on Monday expecting a 0.9% decline in S&P first-quarter earnings per share compared with expectations for 5.3% growth on Jan. 1, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

    “It’s hard to get valuations to continue to rise in the face of falling earnings estimates,” said Jeffrey Kleintop, chief global investment strategist at Charles Schwab in Boston.

    Of the S&P’s 11 major sectors, 7 ended the day with gains.

    After advancing as much as 1.4%, the financials index lost ground late in the day to close up 0.4%.

    The S&P technology index rose 0.5%. The Philadelphia semiconductor index climbed 0.8% as chip companies have a big exposure to China.

    The industrials sector rose 0.4%, getting its biggest boost from General Electric Co, which gained 10.8% after announcing a sale of its biopharma business to Danaher Corp for $21.4 billion. Danaher shares rose 8.2%.

    A flurry of M&A activity also helped the risk-on sentiment.

    The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index rose 2%, its biggest boost coming from shares in Spark Therapeutics Inc, which soared 120% after Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG agreed to buy it for $4.3 billion.

    The biggest laggards were the S&P’s defensive sectors – consumer staples, utilities and real estate. The consumer discretionary sector also ended down 0.3%, with the biggest drag from Home Depot, down 1.3%, on concerns about a soft housing market ahead of its quarterly results.

    Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.14-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.05-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.

    The S&P 500 posted 58 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 128 new highs and 14 new lows.

    Volume on U.S. exchanges was 7.36 billion shares, compared with the 7.32 billion average for the last 20 trading days.

  • Hanoi businesses do brisk business with Trump-Kim summit specials

    Hanoi businesses do brisk business with Trump-Kim summit specials

    Several enterprising businesses have cashed in on the Trump-Kim summit with signature products – craft beer, cocktails, haircuts and T-shirts. A standing bar on Tran Vu Street has already gained a lot of attention with a craft beer named Kim Jong Ale, a kimchi flavored beverage concocted in Saigon.

    Huong Anh, who manages the bar, has waxed lyrical about the beer for the occasion. “Kim Jong Ale is a customers’ favorite here. The inspiration behind this beer is the pure streams of Mount Paektu, which is located between North Korea and China,” she told reporters.

    Yet another bar on Hang Than Street brought out a cocktail called “Make the world great again”, mixing soju, bourbon and Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, pineapple juice, vanilla and grenadine.A wine bar in the capital city has also helped itself to some publicity and increased business with a cocktail called “Peace Negroniations,” a variation of the classic Negroni, made with pink-grapefruit soju, vermouth and bitters. We replaced gin with soju for this special cocktail,” bartender Chau said.

    It took two days to complete this recipe, said Ngo Dinh Tien, a bartender.

    A pizzeria has been offering free pizzas to people with names similar to that of Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump, and to those sporting the distinctive haircuts of both leaders, from February 20-28.

    To get such haircuts, the place to go to is the one on De La Thanh Street that has been offering these for free. The salon is even organizing a contest for people getting such haircuts, with the grand prize being free haircuts for three years.

    A South Korean restaurant in the My Dinh area has hung a banner on their door, featuring Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump and welcoming the summit. The owner said the poster has attracted a lot of attention with many customers taking selfies with it.

    An Old Quarter restaurant has hogged some attention for itself with hamburgers named after the two leaders – “Durty Donald” and “Kim Jong Yum,” served with U.S. and North Korean flags.


    Perhaps the hottest summit item has been souvenir T-shirts. Truong Thanh Duc’s small shop on Hang Bong Street has been operating at full capacity, making 500 shirts a day with a design that says peace and carries pictures of both leaders. Each T-shirt costs less than $5


    .

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  • U.S. agency submits auto tariff probe report to White House

    U.S. agency submits auto tariff probe report to White House

    The U.S. Commerce Department sent a report on Sunday to U.S. President Donald Trump that could unleash steep tariffs on imported cars and auto parts, provoking a sharp backlash from the industry even before it is unveiled, the agency confirmed. Late on Sunday, a department spokeswoman said it would not disclose any details of the “Section 232” national security report submitted to Trump by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The disclosure of the submission came less than two hours before the end of a 270-day deadline.

    Trump has 90 days to decide whether to act upon the recommendations, which auto industry officials expect to include at least some tariffs on fully assembled vehicles or on technologies and components related to electric, automated, connected and shared vehicles.

    As the White House received the report, the industry unleashed what is expected to be a massive lobbying campaign against it.

    The industry has warned that feared tariffs of up to 25 percent on millions of imported cars and parts would add thousands of dollars to vehicle costs and potentially lead to hundreds of thousands of job losses throughout the U.S. economy.

    The Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association, which represents auto parts suppliers, warned that tariffs will shrink investment in the United States at a time when the auto industry is already reeling from declining sales, Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, and tariffs on auto parts from China.

    “These tariffs, if applied, could move the development and implementation of new automotive technologies offshore, leaving America behind,” it said in a statement. “Not a single company in the domestic auto industry requested this investigation.”

    The Commerce Department started its investigation in May 2018 at Trump’s request. Known as a Section 232 investigation, its purpose was to determine the effects of imports on national security and it had to be completed by Sunday.

    Automakers and parts suppliers are anticipating its recommendation options will include broad tariffs of up to 20 percent to 25 percent on assembled cars and parts, or narrower tariffs targeting components and technologies related to new energy cars, autonomous, internet-connected and shared vehicles.

    The Commerce Department alluded to a focus on emerging vehicle technologies when it opened the investigation.

    Administration officials have said tariff threats on autos are a way to win concessions from Japan and the EU. Last year, Trump agreed not to impose tariffs as long as talks with the two trading partners were proceeding in a productive manner.

    Trump said on Friday that tariffs protect industry and also help win trade agreements.

    “I love tariffs, but I also love them to negotiate,” he said.

    A report from the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan, published on Friday showed its worst-case scenario of a tariff of 25 percent would cost 366,900 U.S. jobs in the auto and related industries.

    U.S. light duty vehicle prices would increase by $2,750 on average, including U.S.-built vehicles, reducing annual U.S. sales by 1.3 million units and forcing many consumers to the used car market, the think tank’s report said.

    Major automaker groups said last year the cumulative effect for the United States would be an $83 billion annual price increase and argued there was no evidence auto imports posed a national security risk.

    Canada and Mexico each won duty-free access to 2.6 million vehicles as part of a new North American free trade deal even if the administration moves ahead with the tariffs.

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  • Trump says could extend March 1 China trade talks deadline

    Trump says could extend March 1 China trade talks deadline

    US President Donald Trump (pix) said Tuesday he would consider extending the deadline for a trade deal with China beyond March 1. “If we’re close to a deal, where we think we can make a real deal… I could see myself letting that slide for a little while,” Trump said at the White House. But he added: “Generally speaking I’m not inclined to do that.”

    The comments came as the third round of trade negotiations were set to resume in Beijing to avert more than doubling tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports.

    “China wants to make a deal very badly,” he said, and “things are going well” in the talks. And while no date has yet been agreed for a meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping, he said he expects that to happen “at some point.”

    The high-stakes dispute has raised concerns it could spill over into the global economy after Trump last year hit China with 25% punitive tariffs on $50 billion in goods, and then imposed 10% duties on another $200 billion in annual imports.

    The rate on all those imports are set to increase to 25% if no agreement is reached by March 1.

    China’s economy already has shown signs of slowing, while the trade war has shaken the confidence of US businesses, as retaliatory tariffs have raised prices and helped choke off a key export market.

    And Trump’s aggressive strategy has failed to produce a reduction in the US trade deficit with China, which he set as a primary goal.

    He repeated the incorrect statement that China is paying the duties, which in fact are paid by US companies importing goods.

    And economists say much of the intended effect of the duties in reducing imports, has been offset by the devaluation of China’s currency, which makes goods cheaper for importers.

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  • Trump to sell new Asia policy at regional summit

    Trump to sell new Asia policy at regional summit

    President Donald Trump is expected to bill a new policy for Asia during his two-day stay in Vietnam this week, but the U.S. administration needs to follow through with concrete actions to restore waning confidence in a region weary of his erratic diplomacy.

    At the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) this week in the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang and his state visit later on in Hanoi, Trump will promote the concept of a “free and open Indo-pacific region”. Japan first floated this idea, tailored to push the U.S. to coalesce three other maritime democracies — Japan, Australia, and India. According to American officials, this sales pitch is aimed at demonstrating America and the Trump administration’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific region.

    But political rhetoric only will not be enough to reassure a region increasingly anxious about U.S. commitment, analysts say.

    A survey in March by the Iseas Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore that polled government officials, business representatives, academics and journalists in Southeast Asia found that around 75 percent of the respondents saw China, not the U.S., as the most influential player now and in the next decade. Two-thirds of respondents also viewed the U.S. less favorably than four months ago, according to the survey.

    “Some of Trump’s statements and actions since he came to power have undermined the U.S. strategic position in the region, but most regional countries would like to see Washington’s continued engagement with the region,” Le Hong Hiep, a research fellow at the Iseas Yusof Ishak Institute, said.

    “As such, his concept of a ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’ is likely to be welcomed by most regional countries,” Hiep said. “But again, at this stage, it is just a policy concept. Washington needs to follow up with concrete actions aimed at maintaining and strengthening economic and strategic engagement with the region to restore its strategic position in this part of the world.”

    His attendance at the APEC Summit is part of his 13-day five-nation Asia tour, the longest tour of Asia by any U.S. president since George Bush in late 1991. Trump had planned to skip the East Asia Summit, a key gathering of Southeast Asian leaders in the Philippines on November 13. He only made a last-minute change to attend apparently at the request of other leaders.

    “It is still not too late for the U.S.,” Dennis C. McCornac, an economics professor at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore, said, “to come to its senses and understand that this so-called ‘American first’ policy is really a disguised form of isolation – a policy that will and has never really worked for any country,”

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  • Chinese retail is obsessed with Donald Trump

    Chinese retail is obsessed with Donald Trump

    Despite all his contentious campaign rhetoric, Chinese retail has embraced Donald Trump in a big way.

    Take the Trump-rooster statue just erected at a shopping mall in Taiyuan, the capital city of China’s Shanxi province, for example. The enormous effigy —  to celebrate 2017, the Chinese Year of the Rooster — stands 32 feet tall, complete with the president-elect’s unmistakable quiff and hand gestures. In fact, Chinese retailers incorporate Trump’s “look” or name into their products frequently, including caricatured figurines, skincare items, condoms, and more.

    “This is the first time we’ve had a president who is a brand, and it’s not unusual to see various markets try to co-opt brands for their own success,” said Greg Portell, lead partner for consumer industries and retail practice at global consulting firm A.T. Kearney. “But China, in particular, is trying to capitalize on the Trump brand.”

    Without hard data, it’s unclear whether Chinese consumers have bought into the push. But retailers are betting they will.

    Halloween was a good indication. The Jinua Partytime Latex Art and Crafts Factory, among others, started churning out masks of then-candidate Trump. While the company also produced other political masks, including one depicting Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, workers stockpiled Trump’s, expecting them to sell out in 2016, as reported.

    Now, just weeks before Trump’s inauguration, multiple Chinese retailers have started selling scaled-down versions of that gigantic rooster statue, including Taobao, a large e-commerce site owned by Alibaba. And of course, Alibaba hasn’t missed out on the Trump trend either, offering a multitude of bobbleheads as well as Trump’s iconic red “Make America Great Again” baseball caps — although Amazon, the U.S. equivalent, sells its fair share of paraphernalia too.

    “If you go back to what retailers are looking for in general, they’re looking to drive traffic and drive conversation. Selling products is almost secondary,” Portell noted. “In China, they’re achieving all the above.”

    But China’s Trumpmania isn’t entirely new. In the past decade, Trump has filed 126 trademark applications in China for products from pet care to lingerie, according to data from the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, reported by the Washington Post. And the president-elect wouldn’t be filing them if they didn’t make him money.

    But his next battle lies in fighting off other people trying to use his brand. Registered trademarks already exist in China for Trump condoms, paint, and even toilets.

    “It is just a psychological effect,” Zhong Jiye, founder of Shenzhen Trump Industrial Co., told the Washington Post. “They are interested because they want to sit on a toilet or use a urinal that has the name of a U.S. president.”

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  • Top 10 controversies in China’s luxury industry for 2016

    Top 10 controversies in China’s luxury industry for 2016

    From geopolitical disputes to debates over cultural appropriation, China tends to be a place where it’s easy for foreign brands to get embroiled in controversies no matter how hard they try to avoid it. That’s no different for the luxury industry, which saw its fair share of issues this year.

    Below is Jing Daily’s list of 10 major controversies in China’s luxury industry over the course of 2016, in no particular order: 

    1. Lancôme’s canceled Denise Ho concert. Thanks to antagonism by the Global Times, what was supposed to be a lighthearted promotional pop concert sponsored by the French beauty brand turned into a flashpoint in the ongoing tensions between China and Hong Kong. 

    2. Jack Ma’s statement that fake luxury goods are “better quality” and made in the “same factories” as real ones. In a speech to investors in June, Jack Ma incited luxury executives’ anger when he made his declaration about “fake” goods, which he later clarified in a Wall Street Journal op-ed to mean off-brand items. 

    3. The mutiny over Alibaba at the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition. In another controversy over fakes on Alibaba platforms stirred up this year, luxury brands revolted when the IACC admitted Alibaba in a special “general membership” category. After Gucci, Michael Kors, and Tiffany & Co. quit the group in protest, Alibaba’s membership was suspended.

    4. A Daimler executive’s racist rant in Beijing. A People’s Daily report stating that a Daimler executive in Beijing shouted a racist remark and used pepper spray over a parking dispute resulted in the man being promptly relieved from his position. That didn’t keep the controversy from going viral online and sparking anger, however.

    5. Victoria’s Secret’s mix of dragons with lingerie at its annual fashion show. In a possible attempt to reach Chinese consumers, the brand featured several outfits with China-inspired designs for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, but not all of China’s netizens were impressed.

    6. The revelation of tensions in the 2015 Met Gala planning process. This one isn’t much of a “controversy” per se, but this year’s release of Met Gala documentary The First Monday in May showed the behind-the-scenes debates over the curation of the China-themed exhibition. 

    7. A ban from China for the actress Birkin handbags are named after. While Chinese buyers have been paying record prices for Birkin handbags at auction, 60s icon Jane Birkin has been using her namesake handbag to display political messages. When she wasn’t granted a visa to perform at a concert in Shanghai this summer, Chinese media mentioned her participation in 2008 Tibet protests in France and her use of the handbag to display a Tibetan flag.

    8. China’s K-pop ban poses a problem for luxury brands. Long a source of major publicity for luxury brands in China, Korean pop stars have attracted investment from LVMH through its stake in Korean entertainment company YG Entertainment. But a recent reported ban on Korean TV shows on Chinese television and Korean pop stars entering China has the industry worried about the future.

    9. Taiwan’s mainland tourist slump. Politics have been known to cause significant shifts in where mainland Chinese tourists decide to travel in Asia, and Taiwan learned that lesson the hard way this year. After cross-Strait relations soured following the presidential victory of Tsai Ing-wen, mainland visitor numbers plunged, with a 69 percent decrease during Golden Week.

    10. Donald Trump’s China-related conflicts of interest. As Trump’s business interests around the world remain under scrutiny over conflict-of-interest issues, his China ties are receiving less scrutiny at the moment than links to Russia, but China plays no small role in his business. He’s personally bragged on the campaign trail about the multi-million-dollar luxury apartments he’s sold to elite Chinese buyers, while AFP reported that the Trump Hotel Collection negotiated a memorandum of understanding with China’s largest state-owned enterprise worth around $100 to $150 million.

  • Indonesia Concerned About Donald Trump

    Indonesia Concerned About Donald Trump

    Indonesia’s vice-president yesterday voiced concerns over US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s comments on Muslims, saying “discrimination according to religion” could prompt retaliatory policies from other countries.

    Jusuf Kalla said the government was “not happy with Trump’s opinions” – the first critical remarks from a top official in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, which come as Mr. Trump called for more profiling in the US to battle crime.

    “Any country, especially big countries, seen making policies about ‘radicalism’ or discrimination according to religion will be a bad issue,” Mr. Kalla said.

    “There will be ‘vice-versa’ policies from other countries,” he said, adding an impact would be felt on economy and trade.

    Mr. Trump’s inflammatory remarks on Muslims, including wanting to temporarily ban them from entering the US, on foreign policy and on international trade ties have raised concerns in some Asian countries over a potentially “isolationist” United States.

    In Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, politicians are already thinking about restricting US trade and investment if Mr. Trump becomes president. An online petition, urging a ban on the billionaire and his businesses from the country, has received nearly 47,000 signatures.

    The real estate developer also has partnerships to operate luxury resorts on Bali and in Java, which Indonesian officials have said could be threatened by his rhetoric.

    “Of course there will be an impact, not for Indonesia, but for his business,” Mr. Kalla said, when asked about Mr. Trump’s involvement in the resorts.

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