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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The EU is pushing ahead with tariffs of up to 45 per cent on Chinese electric vehicles, sharply escalating the trade war between the 27-member bloc and Beijing over allegations of unfair industrial subsidies.The tariffs, which come into force on Wednesday and will be imposed for five years, come after the EU rejected China’s claims that it was introducing protectionist measures without evidence that Chinese vehicles were receiving undue state support. The new duties also come on top of an existing 10 per cent tariff on Chinese car imports in the bloc.The two sides said they would continue talks, including over the introduction of “minimum prices” for Chinese-made vehicles sold in Europe. That level would have to be high enough to compensate for the “injurious subsidisation” that Chinese manufacturers received and which allowed them to undercut European rivals, an EU official said.China’s commerce ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that Beijing would “continue to take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies”. It added that it hoped Brussels could work with Beijing in a “constructive manner” to resolve the dispute through dialogue.The EU’s decision to impose additional duties on Chinese-made EVs followed the conclusion of a months-long investigation launched by commission president Ursula von der Leyen last year into China’s allegedly unfair support for its EV industry.Beijing has repeatedly criticised Brussels over the investigation and tariff rises, arguing the European actions violate international trade rules and threaten global progress on fighting climate change.The EV tariffs have caused deep divisions in the bloc, with strong opposition from member states including Germany and Hungary. Diplomats have warned that EU countries that export to China are bracing for further retaliation from Beijing.A spokesman for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday that Berlin was pushing for a negotiated solution because of the risk of retaliation.“Such trade conflicts are not something we should strive for and in this respect the clear expectation towards Brussels, but also towards Beijing, is that good results will be achieved in the ongoing talks so that a trade conflict can be averted,” he said.The introduction of the duties also comes at a vulnerable time for the EU car industry, which has struggled to compete with the aggressive expansion of low-priced Chinese EVs in the bloc. Except for Renault, all the major European car manufacturers have issued profit warnings this year.Volkswagen, Europe’s biggest car manufacturer, is planning to shut at least three German plants and shed tens of thousands of jobs as part of a cost-cutting drive.Along with high energy costs and challenging regulation linked to the EU’s green transition, the industry is contending with a significant increase in the number of cheaper Chinese models reaching the market. The commission has insisted it is introducing tariffs to ensure a level playing field in Europe rather than to restrict trade with China.The tariffs were first announced in June, with four companies — China’s BYD, Geely and SAIC and Tesla of the US — allocated individual duties that ranged from 7.8 per cent for Tesla to 35.3 per cent for SAIC, according to the level of subsidies they received from Beijing.All other manufacturers that co-operate with Brussels by providing requested information will be hit with a tariff of 20.7 per cent. Those that do not face a 35.3 per cent levy.“We can safely say that we basically disagreed on each and every fact, each and every legal argument that we have established in the investigation,” an EU official said.China has already said it will impose anti-dumping measures on EU brandy imports and has launched probes into EU imports of pork and dairy products since the EV tariffs were announced. Beijing also raised a complaint at the World Trade Organization after the tariffs were provisionally announced, calling the investigation “protectionist in nature” and claiming an “absence of any concrete evidence regarding alleged subsidisation in China”.The EU has said the WTO complaint is now void since the tariffs were marginally reduced after the investigation ended.The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU “expressed profound disappointment” over the commission’s decision to proceed with the tariffs, telling the Financial Times it was “disheartened by the lack of substantive progress in negotiations”.But an EU official confirmed prices were unlikely to rise immediately for consumers. “There is a big chance that if a consumer bought a car now, it would be bought from stock [already] on the EU market,” the official said.Additional reporting by Gloria Li in Hong Kong and Laura Pitel in BerlinVideo: Content creators take the fight to AI | FT Tech More

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TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar hovered close to a three-month peak on Wednesday in a big week for macroeconomic data that could reveal the path for U.S. monetary policy.The Australian dollar edged closer to a three-month trough after some stickiness in inflation suggested a Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate cut is unlikely this year.Mixed U.S. indicators overnight, showing a loosening U.S. jobs market but a confident consumer, provided little clarity on the outlook for Federal Reserve easing, allowing the greenback to drift lower with Treasury yields on Tuesday following a strong seven-year note auction. Recently though, economic readings have pointed to a resilient economy, particularly for employment, spurring a paring back of bets on the pace of rate reductions. The ADP employment report is due later in the day, ahead of the potentially crucial monthly payrolls report on Friday.”The U.S. dollar continues to garner strong support as markets adjust their rate path expectations,” said James Kniveton, senior corporate FX dealer at Convera.”The American economy is currently firing on all cylinders.”Meanwhile in Australia, “the increased inflation number in services is likely to mean rate reductions this year are a very distant prospect,” Kniveton said.The Reserve Bank of Australia’s preferred inflation gauge, the trimmed mean measure, slowed to 3.5% from 4.0% in the third quarter, but service-sector inflation remained elevated. On a quarterly basis, the gauge increased by 0.8%, topping forecasts for a 0.7% rise.The Aussie was little changed at $0.6562 as of 0101 GMT, not far from Tuesday’s low of $0.6545, a level that had last been seen on Aug. 8.The U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency against six major rivals including the yen and euro, was little changed at 104.24, after reaching the highest since July 30 at 104.63 on Tuesday before finishing the day almost flat.The 10-year Treasury yield slid to 4.2461% on Wednesday, after reaching the highest since July 5 at 4.3390% in the prior session.Both the dollar and U.S. bond yields have also been buoyed in recent days by rising speculation in markets and on some betting sites on a victory on Nov. 5 for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, whose tariff and immigration policies are seen as inflationary. That also helped leading cryptocurrency bitcoin surge to near its all-time high from March at $73,803.25. The token last changed hands at about $72,082, after pushing as high as $73,609.88 in the previous session.Opinion polls still indicate the race is too close to call.The dollar-yen pair, which tends to track U.S. yields closely, slipped 0.06% to 153.27, after retreating from a three-month peak of 153.87 on Tuesday.The yen has also been weighed down by political uncertainty since a disastrous weekend election for Japan’s ruling coalition saw it lose its majority in parliament, ushering in a period of horse trading that is likely to result in expanded fiscal spending and could potentially delay rate hikes.The euro edged up 0.06% to $1.0824 ahead of the release of readings on gross domestic product across Europe later in the day, that could shed light on whether the European Central Bank will opt to cut rates by 25 or 50 basis points at its next meeting in December.Sterling traded flat at $1.3016 ahead of the Labour government’s first budget on Wednesday.Finance minister Rachel Reeves, along with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, has reiterated the need for tough fiscal measures to help close a hole in British public finances. They are seeking to retain the confidence of investors, two years after then-Prime Minister Liz Truss’ tax-cutting plans sparked a crisis in the bond market.Key for sterling will be estimates from the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility, which makes the forecasts that underpin the government’s spending and tax plans. More

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Investors are selling yen and taking shelter in cash, India, pockets of China’s markets and Singapore dollars ahead of a U.S. election that could shake out global money and trade flows.Asia’s financial markets stand on the front line of what could be a wild ride when votes are tallied and in the months ahead since the region is an export powerhouse and shares and currencies are sensitive to changes in U.S. trade policies.That has money managers shying away from outright wagers on the outcome and looking instead to reduce exposure to vulnerabilities from Japanese manufacturers to Hong Kong stocks and make bets in India or China that stand to gain regardless of the U.S. leader.”We actually view China as a decent place to hide,” said Jon Withaar who manages an Asia special situations hedge fund at Pictet Asset Management, since the market has a lot of domestic drivers and lower correlation with global asset moves.”The best thing for us to do is just sit on the sidelines and wait,” he said, having already cut down on bets in Japan, where tariffs pose a risk for automakers and Hong Kong, where foreign selling of Chinese assets is likely to focus.In the final stretch to the Nov. 5 election, betting odds have Republican Donald Trump leading Democrat Kamala Harris and financial markets have moved to sell U.S. bonds and buy dollars in anticipation a Trump administration would increase inflation.In Asia, the low-yielding yen is favoured for selling against the dollar. Vantage Point Asset Management chief investment officer Nick Ferres is not directly trading the election but is keeping a short yen position and owns Japanese stocks.”Our sense is that the Donald is going to win and it might even be a Republican sweep,” he said.”The implication for the dollar is Trump is probably a bit more pro-growth…the consequence is likely higher path of rates and even more of the rate cuts that are still there for the Fed might be priced out.”The yen’s 6.5% drop on the dollar through October is the largest fall of any G10 currency.CLOSE CALLInvestors say they are also seeking markets least exposed to tariff risks or where other big tailwinds, from demographics to China’s promised stimulus plans, look to be blowing.The Singapore dollar would stand tall against regional currencies, as the city-state guides the currency, said Ray Sharma-Ong, head of multi asset investment solutions for Southeast Asia at abrdn, while Indian stocks may be insulated.”India benefits from strong domestic economic growth, low exposure to potential trade conflict due to low export-to-GDP ratio exposure and a tilt towards services exports, supported by strong earnings that are not reliant on tech,” he said.”We also expect the equity market to prefer defensive sectors with lower exposure to exports and potential tariffs,” such as staples and utilities.”To be sure polls show the race is too close to call and the range of outcomes, including a drawn-out or contested vote count, mean policy implications may not be immediately obvious.”I honestly don’t know what Trump can achieve,” said John Hempton, founder and chief investment officer of hedge fund Bronte Capital in Sydney.”If I genuinely don’t know what I’m doing, then I just try and stay out of the way – try to minimise the damage.”Still, Goldman Sachs notes that emerging market funds have been raising exposure to China and North Asia over the past month, which could accelerate rapidly once the election passes and uncertainty hanging over investors lifts.”We see emerging markets equities to be well placed to outperform next year regardless of the outcome,” said Gary Tan, portfolio manager, Allspring Global Investments, as China bolsters its economy and the U.S. cuts interest rates.”We see a Harris win being marginally more positive for emerging markets.” More

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2% in the third quarter, under forecasts of a 0.3% increase. Annual inflation dropped to 2.8%, from 3.8%, taking it back into the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) 2%-3% target band for the first time since late 2021.The RBA is more focused on core inflation and the trimmed mean measure increased by 0.8% in the quarter, just above forecasts of a 0.7% gain. The annual pace slowed to 3.5% from 4.0%, with service-sector inflation still elevated. More