Aurelia Butler

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.New Zealand has long welcomed billionaires looking for a bolt-hole in challenging times and is now extending that welcome to global investors as it seeks to convince them that it is a haven for their money in an era of greater volatility. Some of the world’s largest investment funds, infrastructure funds and construction and engineering companies are descending on Auckland this week as it tries to open up its economy to foreign investment. Brookfield Asset Management, the newly rebranded Aberdeen, the Bank of China and Macquarie will attend the two-day New Zealand Infrastructure Investment Summit to weigh up opportunities in a country that, by its own admission and the OECD’s, has long failed to welcome foreign investors. “The world is awash with cash and it is looking for safe harbours and safe returns,” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told the Financial Times, adding that funds with NZ$6tn (US$3.4tn) of firepower would attend the summit. Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.The summit comes at a critical time for Luxon, who was elected 14 months ago, with his centre-right coalition inheriting an economy in recession and liberal policies adopted by the Jacinda Ardern administration. Luxon has since repealed many of Ardern’s signature policies, including bans on oil and gas exploration.While Ardern may have put New Zealand on the map for her left-leaning agenda, it has yet to register on the radar of investors. New Zealand has some of the most restrictive rules on foreign direct investment of all OECD members, according to a survey by the Paris-based organisation. Foreign direct investment reached NZ$6.1bn in the year to March 2024, less than half the NZ$12.7bn recorded the previous year when British, Australian and Japanese companies made acquisitions, but more than double the NZ$2.9bn in 2005. The country was “not on the frontier of best practice”, the OECD said last year, citing protracted screenings of foreign investments and controls on foreign ownership of assets including natural resources. It described inward FDI as “small” for an open economy. “The world has forgotten about New Zealand,” said Paul Newfield, chief executive of asset manager Morrison & Co. “The PM is trying to put New Zealand squarely on the map. To present a 20-year vision of where we need to be.”Since taking office, Luxon’s government has reformed 20-year-old foreign investment rules, formed a government agency aimed at attracting investment into New Zealand companies and loosened rules for “golden visas”. “We’re getting rid of the thickets of red and green tape,” said Luxon. Where it once took months to approve overseas investments, amendments made last month mean it should take just 15 days. Luxon’s government also plans to overhaul planning laws, health and safety rules and strict environmental regulations that have frustrated farmers.“We need to be ruthless to make sure we don’t get barnacles on the boat,” he said.Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.Delegates in Auckland — which will include Australian and Canadian pension funds, Japanese and South Korean engineering companies, US, Chinese and Spanish banks and sovereign wealth funds — will hear about opportunities to invest in everything from roads to healthcare and the mining and energy sectors. Luxon also highlighted the country’s burgeoning space sector and science and technology research which he sees as a source for future initial public offerings and wealth creation. He has ruled out privatisations in this government term but has said this year he is open to considering asset sales as part of his next election campaign. Chris Bishop, New Zealand’s infrastructure minister, said there had been “a bit of a fear of the private sector” under Labour but both sides recognised the need for foreign investment to close what he called an “infrastructure deficit” in the country, which he said could be as high as NZ$200bn.“It’s an ‘NZ Inc’ approach. It sends a signal of intent,” Bishop said. “Slower [economic] growth doesn’t have to be our destiny.”The summit came at a time when support had ebbed for Luxon’s National-led government, said Danyl McLauchlan, an author and academic. While New Zealand’s leaders have a long record of holding grand summits that do not yield anything substantial — a jobs summit after the 2008 banking crisis produced a cycling lane across the country — this week’s infrastructure investment summit could prove pivotal for Luxon. “Their [the Nationals] fortunes will be reversed if they get the economy back on track, sign deals and create jobs but if six months down the track nothing has happened then that could spell danger,” McLauchlan said. This is a chance for Luxon, who visited Vietnam for a trade mission this month and will soon head to India to strengthen defence and economic ties with the country, to shift the debate about the country’s economy.Global volatility could work in New Zealand’s favour, Luxon said. “New Zealand is a safe haven. It’s the beginning. It doesn’t solve all the problems but it’s a shift.” More

This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Subscribers can sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get the newsletter delivered every weekday morning. Explore all of our newsletters hereGood morning and welcome back to FirstFT Asia. Here’s what we’re covering today: US increases its defence against Chinese cyber attacks India encourages more oil and gas explorationJapan’s rocky ride to economic normalisationDubai’s thriving property market The US Federal Communications Commission is creating a national security council to bolster defences against Chinese cyber attacks and help it stay ahead of China in critical technologies, such as artificial intelligence. Brendan Carr, the new FCC chair, said he was establishing the council to step up the agency’s focus on the “persistent and constant threat from foreign adversaries, particularly the Chinese Communist party”. “These bad actors are always exploring ways to breach our networks, devices and technology ecosystem. It is more important than ever that the FCC remain vigilant and protect Americans and American companies from these threats,” he said. He added that because the threats cut across sectors that the commission regulated, “it is important that the FCC’s national security efforts pull resources from a variety of FCC organisations”. Read more on how the council will aim to prevent cyber attacks, espionage and surveillance by hostile states.Here’s what else is happening today:FT Live Wealth Management Summit Asia: Join us in-person in Singapore or online. Register here.IEA data: The International Energy Agency will issue its oil market reportHoli: Today marks the start of the two-day Hindu festival of colours, celebrating the arrival of spring and the triumph of good over evil.Five more top stories1. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Kursk, where his army chief told him Moscow’s forces are on the verge of retaking the Ukrainian-held border region. Just hours after Ukraine agreed to a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in its war with Russia, Putin ordered the army to drive Ukraine’s forces out of the area “in the shortest time possible”. Here are the latest developments in the war.2. India has passed legislation intended to encourage oil and gas exploration to help meet its energy needs. The move that highlights the difficulty of persuading the world’s most populous nation to phase out fossil fuels. India, the world’s third-largest carbon polluter, has faced increasing pressure from abroad to reduce emissions.3. The EU and Canada retaliated against US President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium within hours of them taking effect. Here are the details of how the countries hit back, and what it means for the global economy. More on trade policy: Two of Wall Street’s most prominent executives have said there are upsides to Trump’s tariff policies.US economy: US inflation fell more than expected to 2.8 per cent in February, bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates amid signs of slowing growth in the world’s largest economy.4. Alliances between New Delhi, Washington and India’s telecom tycoons Mukesh Ambani Sunil Mittal are growing deeper. Ambani’s Reliance Jio, India’s biggest mobile operator, on Tuesday followed Mittal’s Bharti Airtel, the number-two player, in announcing plans to distribute SpaceX’s satellite internet service. The tie-ups could further smooth the entry of Musk’s business interests into India.5. China’s Ministry of Commerce has summoned Walmart executives over reports the US retailer asked its suppliers to cut prices in response to Trump’s tariffs, according to state media. The discussions, reported on Wednesday by a social media account affiliated with state-run China Central Television, highlight mounting geopolitical risks for big US companies in China.Today’s big readChina’s influence is on display in Zambia’s Copperbelt province, where businesses like Lying Dragon cater to Chinese contractors More

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the worldUS inflation fell more than expected to 2.8 per cent in February, bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates amid signs of slowing growth in the world’s largest economy.Wednesday’s annual consumer price index figure was below January’s 3 per cent and the 2.9 per cent expected by economists, according to a Reuters poll.US stocks have slipped in recent weeks but rose on Wednesday, with the blue-chip S&P 500 closing 0.5 per cent higher and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite adding 1.2 per cent.Futures markets are pricing in two rate cuts this year with a roughly 85 per cent chance of a third — up marginally from before the data release.The US central bank faces a difficult balancing act as it tries to bring down inflation without triggering a recession, amid intensifying fears that President Donald Trump’s aggressive economic agenda is hampering growth.Businesses and financial markets have been rattled by the chaotic rollout of the president’s tariffs on the US’s biggest trading partners, which has been marked by sudden escalations and U-turns.Wednesday’s figures showed core inflation rose 3.1 per cent, falling short of expectations of a 3.2 per cent increase.“Underlying inflation is slowing before we get to those upside risks of tariffs, which will come later in the spring, so that’s positive for the Fed,” said Veronica Clark, an economist at Citigroup. “That will make them less worried about planning cuts later in the year.”Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.Last week, Fed chair Jay Powell played down concerns over the health of the US economy after the S&P 500 index’s post-election gains were wiped out following the release of disappointing employment figures for February.Powell suggested he expected the central bank to hold rates at their current range of between 4.25 per cent and 4.5 per cent at its meeting next week, saying the Fed was in no “hurry” to cut and was “focused on separating the signal from the noise as the outlook evolves”.The Bank of Canada on Wednesday cut interest rates by a quarter point to 2.75 per cent, citing the expected slowdown from “heightened trade tensions and tariffs imposed by the United States”.Although it said Canada’s economy had begun the year in good shape, the BoC also noted slowing economic activity in the US and warned its own outlook was harder to fathom as a result of “more than usual uncertainty because of the rapidly evolving policy landscape”.Some economists and investors fear Trump’s tariffs will stoke US inflation, with the price of several metals, including aluminium, rising after the administration imposed steep tariffs on imports from Wednesday.The White House’s decision to impose 25 per cent levies on all steel and aluminium imports triggered swift retaliation from the EU, which is targeting up to €26bn of US goods with tariffs. Tom Porcelli, chief US economist at PGIM Fixed Income, said February’s drop was welcome but said investors’ relief could prove shortlived given the possible impact of tariffs.In February, sectors registering the biggest price increases included medical care and used cars, while airfares and new cars were among those where costs declined.Egg prices, a significant contributor to January’s strong reading, were higher again in February, rising a further 10 per cent on the month for an annual increase of 59 per cent.“It’s good news, for sure, but I do think we don’t want to overstate this,” said Ryan Sweet, chief US economist at Oxford Economics. “Only the tariffs on China had gone into effect in February and it may be a bit too soon to be captured in this round of data.” More

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the More

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.China’s Ministry of Commerce has summoned executives at Walmart over reports the US retailer asked its suppliers to cut prices in response to tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, according to state media.The discussions, reported on Wednesday by a social media account affiliated with state-run China Central Television, highlight mounting geopolitical risks for big US companies in China.“Chinese companies shall not bear the blame for US tariffs,” the Yuyuantantian account, a frequent source of official commentary on trade, said in a post on the social media site Weibo.Walmart has expanded its presence in China in recent years despite a wider slowdown in domestic consumer demand, and its US stores rely heavily on goods imported from the world’s second-largest economy.US companies have been struggling to avoid the fallout from tariffs announced since Trump’s inauguration as president in January. The new administration initially introduced an additional tariff rate of 10 per cent on imports from China, then doubled it to 20 per cent last week.Escalating trade tensions with Washington have prompted a host of countermeasures by Beijing. As well as implementing retaliatory tariffs on US exports of energy and agricultural goods this week, China has also increasingly targeted American companies in the country.Chinese authorities added clothing maker PVH, the owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, to an “unreliable entity list” in February alongside California-based biotech group Illumina, and launched an antitrust investigation into Google.The move represented the first time US companies with substantial interests on the ground in China had been blacklisted on national security grounds, and prompted a wave of concern through international business communities in Beijing and Shanghai. Earlier this month, China added 10 US companies to the list. All had sold arms to Taiwan or been involved with military technology co-operation with the island, state media said then, citing the commerce ministry.Walmart said its “purpose is to help people save money and live better. Our conversations with suppliers are all aimed at making our purpose a reality for millions of customers, and we will continue to work closely with them to find the best way forward during these uncertain times”. The commerce ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Yuyuantantian report. Bloomberg reported last week that Walmart had asked makers of kitchenware and clothing in China to cut prices by 10 per cent.Walmart has a presence in more than 100 cities in mainland China and is well-known in the country for its popular Sam’s Club, a chain of membership-only warehouse stores. In the quarter to January 31, its sales after returns, allowances and discounts in China were $5.1bn, up 28 per cent from the previous year.Walmart sold its stake in JD.com, one of China’s biggest ecommerce platforms, for $3.6bn last August to focus on expanding its own brands.Additional reporting by Gregory Meyer in New York More

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the worldTwo of Wall Street’s most prominent executives have said there are upsides to Donald Trump’s policies, even as the US president presses ahead with protectionist measures including import tariffs that have fuelled fears of a slowdown in the world’s largest economy.Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of Blackstone, told reporters in India on Wednesday that the tariffs would, “at the end of the day”, lead to a significant increase in manufacturing activity in the US.“Given the size of the US, that tends to be a good thing for the world,” said Schwarzman, a prominent Trump donor. “If we’re growing faster we can consume more things. So, you know, that’s one scenario . . . there are other scenarios, because it’s just way too early to play this out.”Meanwhile David Solomon, chief executive of Goldman Sachs, said the business community “understands what the president is trying to do with tariffs”, though he pleaded for more “certainty” on the Trump administration’s policy agenda.Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports came into effect on Wednesday, triggering countermeasures from the EU, which the bloc said would affect up to €26bn of American goods. Canada has also announced 25 per cent retaliatory tariffs on about C$30bn of US-made goods.The “business community is always going to want lower tariffs, everywhere in the world”, said Solomon. But he welcomed Trump’s wider agenda and his openness to dealing with executives, telling Fox News that he liked the way “the president is engaged with the business community”. “That’s a different experience than what we’ve had over the course of the last four years,” Solomon said.“CEOs are excited about some of the tailwinds, like the move to lower regulation,” he said, adding that red tape had been a “significant headwind to growth and investment”.Solomon said he expected the number of initial public offerings, which had been “muted” over the past couple of years, to increase in 2025.The Goldman chief was part of a group of business leaders who met Trump at an event held on Tuesday evening by the Business Roundtable, an association of 200 CEOs of large American companies. Many of the attendees have seen the market capitalisation of their companies slump in recent days amid fears of recession and a widening trade war.Trump told the gathering that tariffs would boost domestic jobs and industrial production in the US. “The biggest win is if [businesses] move into our country and produce jobs,” he said. “That’s a bigger win than the tariffs themselves.”As well as resuscitating US manufacturing, Trump’s aggressive moves on trade are designed to reduce the country’s trade deficit, and force Mexico and Canada to stem the flow of irregular migrants and fentanyl across America’s southern and northern borders.But the deepening frictions between the US and some of its closest allies are causing jitters throughout the business community.In addition to retaliatory tariffs by the EU and Canada, there is concern about the possibility that Trump will follow through on his threat to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs on all trading partners from April 2, to punish them for taxes, levies, regulations and subsidies that Washington considers unfair.Additional reporting by Antoine Gara and Oliver Barnes in New York More

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the worldThe writer is associate professor of political science at Providence College and author of the forthcoming book ‘Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism’ Critical minerals have topped the agenda since Donald Trump’s return to the White House. On inauguration day, he released an executive order, “Unleashing American Energy”. With characteristic bluster, this seeks to secure “America’s mineral dominance”. He has also issued a related executive order (“Addressing the threat to national security from imports of copper”), threatened to seize Greenland and annex Canada, which have enviable mineral endowments, bullied Ukraine to accept a minerals deal (“they have great rare earth. And I want security of the rare earth”), and announced imminent additional action to “dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths here in the USA”.Trump’s bellicose rhetoric and menacing behaviour has been rightly criticised but he is not acting in a vacuum. Last year, the EU signed a critical minerals deal with Rwanda. The European parliament voted to suspend the deal, however, because Rwanda is supporting a rebellion in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo partly in order to seize and export the region’s coltan, tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold. Meanwhile, the government of the DR Congo, led by Félix Tshisekedi, has proposed a critical minerals deal to the US, modelled on the stalled Ukraine agreement. Tshisekedi pitched the idea of privileged access for US companies to abundant cobalt and copper reserves in exchange for security assistance in its fight with the M23 rebels. Vladimir Putin too saw the Ukraine deal as a model, offering Trump access to Russia’s minerals — as well as those in Ukrainian territories his military controls. These deals are part of a broader trend. Importing countries are racing to secure minerals, using a mix of onshoring (encouraging mining within their borders) and bilateral trade agreements. Producing countries are implementing export bans, establishing state-owned companies and in some cases nationalising entire mineral sectors. Whether justified on account of the energy transition, tech sectors or military preparedness, countries everywhere want their piece of the critical mineral pie.In the US, Trump’s moves mark the escalation of a bipartisan consensus that has been over a decade in the making. It was during Barack Obama’s presidency that federal officials first outlined a “critical minerals strategy”. In Trump’s first term, executive orders expanded the list of critical minerals and framed reliance on imports from foreign adversaries as a threat. Joe Biden’s administration increased domestic mining, established friendshoring alliances and imposed major tariffs on minerals from China. Some previous US policies bear an unsettling resemblance to Trump’s recent bluster too. Under Biden, for example, the state department lobbied the CEO of privately held Tanbreez to resist any offers from Chinese investors for its Greenland rare earth deposit.There is an even longer history at work here. The concept of “critical minerals” traces its origins to the lead-up to the second world war and was reinforced during the cold war race for atomic materials and the 1970s energy crisis. At each moment, labelling resources as “critical” has justified government support for extraction and access, deregulation of safeguards, and a preference for strong-arm tactics over co-operation. The consequences are deadly: mining ranks high among economic sectors for human rights violations.The idea of “critical minerals” shuts down debate. Critical for who? And extracted for whose benefit and whose expense? Instead of “mineral dominance” we need international agreements on environmental and social standards and policies that reduce mineral demand. Otherwise, the critical minerals consensus is liable to lead us to a 21st-century gold rush or resource war. More

Show video infoThe EU and Canada retaliated against US President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium within hours of them taking effect, escalating a trade war that has rattled financial markets and threatened the global economy.The European Commission said its measures would affect up to €26bn ($28bn) of American goods, matching the US tariffs on European exports, and would take effect in April, leaving some time to negotiate with Washington.Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the EU regretted Trump’s decision and that tariffs were “bad for business, and even worse for consumers”. “These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy. Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up,” von der Leyen said.Canada also hit back swiftly as Ottawa announced tariffs on almost C$30bn ($21bn) of US goods. Dominic LeBlanc, the country’s finance minister, branded the US levies as “completely unjustified, unfair and unreasonable”. The retaliations came after the US tariffs came into force on Wednesday, as Trump pressed ahead with his protectionist trade agenda despite growing concern over the risk of a domestic recession.The move to impose the tariffs followed a turbulent day on Wall Street as the spectre of a deepening trade war and the administration’s erratic policymaking on tariffs shook investors.US and European stocks were up on Wednesday, snapping two days of declines, with the S&P 500 rising 0.8 per cent and the Stoxx Europe 600 climbing 0.8 per cent.As part of its retaliation, Brussels has reinstated measures introduced during Trump’s first term on €4.5bn of US exports from April 1. These include levies of up to 50 per cent on products such as bourbon whiskey, jeans and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.The EU has also drawn up levies on a further €18bn of US goods, which could include cosmetics, clothes, wood, soyabeans, chicken, beef and other agricultural produce. The measures, which could be expanded to include another €3.5bn of goods, require approval by EU countries and would come into force on April 13.A senior EU official said soyabeans were on the list of targets because they were grown in Louisiana, the home state of House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson.“We’re happy to buy our soyabeans from Brazil or Argentina,” they added.“We want to ensure there is pressure within the American system to lift their tariffs,” a second official said, referring to efforts to hit goods from Republican states. Trump’s tariffs are the latest salvo in an aggressive trade policy that the president has said will boost US manufacturing and penalise countries he claims have ripped America off.Last month the president announced that he would impose the duties on metals, tearing up agreements struck between his predecessor Joe Biden and US trading partners to allow certain quantities of steel and aluminium to enter the country duty free.US administration officials have framed the move as a response to “foreign players” that they say are responsible for “surging exports” of metals to America that are undermining domestic producers.Trump has also expanded the metals tariffs to apply to a wide range of products containing steel and aluminium, including tennis rackets, exercise bikes, furniture and air conditioning units.UK trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the tariffs were “disappointing” but Britain did not respond with immediate countermeasures. Despite the US being the UK steel industry’s second-biggest export market, Reynolds said the government was “focused on a pragmatic approach” as it sought to negotiate a broader economic deal with the White House.China, the world’s largest steelmaker and exporter, warned it would “take all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests” but did not immediately announce retaliatory tariffs.Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the tariffs were “entirely unjustified”, adding: “This is not a friendly act.” The country was exempt from similar tariffs implemented during Trump’s first term, and the country’s steel producers supply the American defence and manufacturing sectors.The full list of steel and aluminium products subject to the levies represented $151bn of imported goods in 2024, according to an analysis by Simon Evenett and Johannes Fritz of the St Gallen Endowment for Prosperity Through Trade.Ted Murphy, a partner at law firm Sidley Austin, said Trump’s sweeping new metals tariffs represented a “big change” from his approach when he introduced similar levies in 2018 and allowed exclusions for some products. “The product exclusions were vetted through a US government process to confirm the products weren’t available in the US,” said Murphy. “So taking that away will mean a lot of folks will have to pay the tariff because they can’t source these products domestically.”Additional reporting by Nic Fildes in Sydney, George Parker in London, Joe Leahy in Beijing and Ilya Gridneff in Ottawa More