Key Takeaways The continued expansion of the service sector bodes well for the health of the economy despite struggles in manufacturing, because the services sector is by far the economy's largest. Instead, manufacturers have grappled with increased costs, reduced demand, and uncertainty about rapidly changing trade policy. "It has not been a great year," one manager in the chemical business told ISM. "We have had some success holding the line on costs; however, real consumer spending is down and tariffs ar ...

Core Points - China has launched island-wide special customs operations in the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP), enhancing free trade and business-friendly measures [1][3] - The Hainan FTP is now designated as a special customs supervision zone, marking a significant development in its evolution [3][4] - The share of zero-tariff products in the Hainan FTP has increased from 21% to 74%, expanding the list of zero-tariff items from 1,900 to over 6,600 [5][6] Summary by Sections Free Trade and Business Environment - The new customs arrangements allow foreign companies to benefit from a business environment aligned with international standards, lower tax and production costs, and broader access to service sectors [4] - Hainan is positioned as a platform for foreign companies to access the vast Chinese mainland market [4] Customs Operations - The special customs system includes "freer access at the first line" for trade between Hainan and areas outside China's customs borders, and "regulated access at the second line" for goods moving from Hainan to the mainland [5] - Zero-tariff goods processed in Hainan can be sold to the mainland duty-free if local processing adds 30% or more in value [6] Historical Context and Development Goals - Hainan has evolved from an underdeveloped frontier outpost to China's largest special economic zone since 1988, with over 9,600 foreign-invested enterprises established since 2020 [7] - The launch date of December 18 aligns with the anniversary of a significant CPC meeting in 1978, marking the beginning of China's reform and opening-up era [8]

For the first time in decades, German businesses and politicians are questioning the unfettered free trade that turned the country into an industrial powerhouse https://t.co/4lBSx1We4G ...

CHONGQING, CHINA - NOVEMBER 24: In this photo illustration, the logo of Nvidia is displayed on a smartphone screen on November 24, 2025 in Chongqing, China. (Photo by Li Hongbo/VCG via Getty Images)VCG via Getty ImagesRubber was oil before oil. As Edmund Morris wrote in his biography of Thomas Edison, rubber was “a raw material essential enough to provoke armed conflict.” How things change.Consider a recent Wall Street Journal editorial about Nvidia’s H200 chips, and that asked why President Trump would “gi ...

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 18: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivers a keynote address during the Nvidia GTC Artificial Intelligence Conference at SAP Center on March 18, 2024 in San Jose, California. The developer conference is expected to highlight new chip, software, and AI processor technology. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Getty ImagesNvidia co-founder Jensen Huang has had a very positive influence on President Trump. The same individual who has long said the word “tariff” is one of the more beau ...

The North American free trade trade deal is up for review next year, and one expert is urging Canada to get to be ready for maximum Trump leverage https://t.co/tICaiyUrFB ...

Credit where credit's due, President Trump made a big bet that the US had a magnetic appeal and that would enable him to get a better deal from US trade partners and companies that want to do business in the United States. On the evidence of the last few months, that bet is playing out pretty nicely. Did the economics profession get it wrong on tariffs or is the impact just delayed.Economists don't agree on much. One thing they do agree on is that free trade is good and that tariffs are bad. If we were to t ...

“The real winner of rules-based free trade has been China” and the US has never met a competitor with a similar scale and willingness to reorder the world, says Singapore’s top diplomat Vivian Balakrishnan in an interview at the #NewEconomyForum in Singapore.Follow the latest, news and updates here: https://t.co/UmzuzSob5x ...

RT Bloomberg New Economy (@BBGNewEconomy)"The real winner of rules based free trade has actually been China." @VivianBala #BloombergNewEconomy @MyStephanomics⏯️ https://t.co/Sqkf8dKmnN https://t.co/XSRtezW5ut ...

I understand this argument, but the counterargument is simply scale.Empirically, multi-ethnic ideological empires like Rome, the British Empire, Napoleon’s France, the Soviet Union, and the US defeated smaller monoethnic nation states.They defeated them militarily, culturally, economically, and ideologically. And then integrated them. Thereby setting the laws, including the laws of the marketplace.Of course, in each case, rapid imperial expansion may well have laid the seeds of future collapse. But the smal ...