Business

The US Trade Representative's office (USTR) has said it will impose a 25% tariff on most imports from Brazil. The charges are set to come into effect in a week, on July 22.  The trade barriers are the first of their kind since the Supreme Court annulled the cornerstone of US President Donald Trump's prior sweeping tariff regime, famously announced on what Trump dubbed "Liberation Day" in 2025.  It also comes amid friction between the Trump administration and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva, not least because of Trump's ties to Brazil's former right-wing populist president Jair Bolsonaro and his family. Brazil votes in general elections this October. What US measures are planned against Brazil?  Following an investigation, the USTR argued that Brazil's trade practices on ...

In recent years, the price of gold has climbed steadily. Aside from the current market blip (see chart below), an upward trend has been going for years. Since 2020, the price of gold has risen from $1,585 per ounce to more than $4,500 per ounce. Money should not lose value through inflation. Ideally, it should grow on its own because of interest. But such investments are looking less promising right now, as central bank interest rates are relatively low. As a result, investors seek a safe place to park their wealth — and precious metals are one option they turn to. Increased demand naturally pushes up prices. Economists at Deutsche Bank have shown that central banks around the world are increasingly buying gold. In a study published on April 27, they found that China, Russia, India and T...

Philippe Aghion is an expert in creative destruction. That's the term economists use when innovations disrupt whole industries and create new ones. Think steam engine, assembly line production and the IT revolution. Or now, artificial intelligence (AI). For his groundbreaking research on how technological innovation can drive long-term economic growth, Aghion, who is French, was awarded the Nobel Prize for economics in 2025, together with Canadian Peter Howitt and Israeli-American Joel Mokyr. Philippe Aghion, Nobel laureate in economics 2025 and professor at College de France, INSEAD and London School of EconomicsImage: A. Becker/DW"More than ever, AI will bring creative destruction," Aghion told DW on the sidelines of this year's Brussels Economic Forum. "There will be job destruction. ...

Since the pandemic, Indonesia has delivered steady annual growth of 5%. Then, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. As Southeast Asia's largest economy still heavily relies on imported fuel despite having its own oil reserves, the Indonesian government took an immediate hit. The cost of fuel subsidies, for which ministers had budgeted around $22 billion (€19.2 billion), rocketed. Reuters news agency reported in March that policymakers would need an extra $6 billion or more to keep prices stable. The national currency, the rupiah, plunged 8% to record lows near 18,000 to the dollar. The Jakarta stock market, which had been heading for a record above 9,000, fell by a third, becoming the worst performing stock market this year. Foreign investors pulled billions out of Indonesian assets. The F...

Since the pandemic, Indonesia has delivered steady annnual growth of 5%. Then, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. As Southeast Asia's largest economy still heavily relies on imported fuel despite having its own oil reserves, the Indonesian government took an immediate hit. The cost of fuel subsidies, for which ministers had budgeted around $22 billion (€19.2 billion), rocketed. Reuters news agency reported in March that policymakers would need an extra $6 billion or more to keep prices stable. The national currency, the rupiah, plunged 8% to record lows near 18,000 to the dollar. The Jakarta stock market, which had been heading for a record above 9,000, fell by a third, becoming the worst performing stock market this year. Foreign investors pulled billions out of Indonesian assets. The ...

For many years, the global financial world hung on Alan Greenspan’s words, his facial expressions, and his every movement. Even the thickness of his briefcase was observed, evaluated and interpreted. For nearly 20 years, Alan Greenspan steered United States monetary policy — and with it, the economy — as Chairman of the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, or Fed for short. He was "Mr. Dollar," the guru of the international financial world, the pacemaker of the global economy. George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Britiain's Queen Elizabeth II knighted him. He was regarded as upright, brilliant and witty. Greenspan himself liked to say that he began each day with two hours of reading documents in the bathtub, where he was at his most creative. His reputation ...

For decades after the end of the Cold War in 1989, defense was not a high priority for European leaders. Military spending was slashed, armed forces were downsized, and equipment stockpiles depleted, resulting in diminished combat readiness. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, however, served as a wake-up call and prompted European governments to reverse course and focus on defense. Growing uncertainty about US security commitments under President Donald Trump accelerated the trend. Germany even amended its constitution to remove borrowing limits for defense, giving Berlin free rein over military spending. Last year, the 29 European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) together spent as much as $559 billion (€487 billion) on defense, according...

Iran faces a long and bumpy road back from its nearly four-month war with the United States and Israel. Before the Iran conflict erupted, the country was already grappling with years of sanctions and international isolation tied to its nuclear program that had cut oil exports — its main income source — roughly in half. The Iranian economy was in dire straits, with inflation close to 50% and severe shortages of basic goods. The war caused a further 10% economic contraction, analysts say, including infrastructure damage and lost oil exports. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreed on June 17 offers immediate relief through US sanctions waivers, allowing Tehran to ramp up exports of crude oil and refined petroleum products. The 60-day waivers also cover shipping, insurance and bankin...

Bayer is still grappling with tens of thousands of lawsuits over its glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup, which plaintiffs claim causes cancer, primarily non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Germany's agrochemical giant inherited the legal mess after taking over Monsanto, the company that produced Roundup, in 2018. Farmers, landscapers and gardeners — mostly based in the United States — argue that Monsanto knew, or should have known, about the risks but failed to provide adequate warnings on product labels. According to the US-based Lawsuit Information Center, Bayer has so far paid out around $11 billion (€9.65 billion) to settle roughly 100,000 cases. Around 61,000 to 65,000 claims remain active. The company has cited decades of scientific studies and regulatory research showing that glyphosate is s...

Can a non-European simply buy their way into the Schengen Area? Or even pay to become a citizen of an EU country?  That's exactly what so-called golden visas are for — and Portugal is one of the countries that offers them. Anyone who invests at least €250,000 ($285,000) can first obtain a residence permit and, later, if they choose, even apply for a Portuguese passport. The catch is that the government has recently changed the rules, and many people who have been waiting years for the residence permits they were promised are now planning to take legal action. Golden visas — much like those US President Donald Trump has proposed for $1 million — are available in several EU countries, including Greece, Italy, and Latvia. In exchange for investments ranging from €50,000 to €500,000, applic...