Ata mārie and welcome to your Tuesday recap of business and political news from around the globe.
First up, US President Donald Trump has reversed his position and is calling on Republican lawmakers to vote to release files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the BBC reported.
Trump said there was “nothing to hide” and urged Republicans in Congress to vote this week to release files related to Epstein. Trump had always denied any link to Epstein's sex abuse and trafficking.
Elsewhere, Germany plans to resume exports of weapons to Israel, as the European country’s government lifts a ban order, Al Jazeera reported.
“The government will, as a general rule, revert to case-by-case reviews in decisions on arms exports and respond to further developments,” a spokesperson said.
Germany, the second-largest exporter of weapons to Israel after the US, announced a suspension of some exports to Israel in August, amid pressure over the war in Gaza.
India’s trade deficit widened to a record last month, with exports to the US falling for a second consecutive month after Trump’s 50% tariffs, Bloomberg reported.
The gap between exports and imports stood at US$41.68 billion last month, according to official data, above the US$30b deficit forecast by economists.
Exports contracted about 12% from a year earlier, with exports to the US falling 8.6%. Last week, India’s cabinet announced relief measures worth more than US$5b for exporters, Bloomberg noted.
Meanwhile, a deal has been struck for the US to supply about 10% of India’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports. Indian state-owned oil companies signed a one-year deal to import about 2.2 million tonnes of LPG from the Gulf Coast.
“We believe that this move is for diversifying our LPG sourcing, which is currently concentrated in the Middle East, and also to reduce trade surplus with the US,” equity analyst Bineet Banka told CNBC.
India’s annual LPG imports total 20 to 21 million tonnes.
Trade Minister Todd McClay.
New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay said this country’s forestry and wood sector has benefited after a trade mission in India. McClay joined a delegation of 13 New Zealand companies to India this week to pursue new growth opportunities.
Wood and wood products were already New Zealand’s largest goods export to India, worth $134 million in the year to June.
“While logs and pulp remain the backbone of current trade, the real opportunity lies in higher-value processed timber products that match India’s rapid urbanisation and emphasis on sustainable construction.
“This trip showcased our world-class premium timbers, cutting-edge processing technologies, and innovative value-added products,” McClay said.
Over the Ditch, Rio Tinto has scrapped a A$215m research centre project and BioIron product after a decade of development, the ABC reported.
The site, south of Perth, will be handed to Australian technology company Calix for a green iron pilot plant, along with A$35m investment in its zero-emission steelmaking technology.
Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Matthew Holcz said the company was still committed to progressing BioIron long-term. "Both projects are part of our work to reduce emissions and support the future of iron ore in Australia and the communities that depend on it.”
Warren Buffett.
In business news, Alphabet’s shares soared more than 5% after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed a multi-billion-dollar stake in the company, the Guardian reported.
A filing on Friday local time showed that Berkshire owned 17.85 million shares in Google’s parent company at the end of September, as the tech-race heats up. Alphabet is heavily involved in artificial intelligence after Google bought AI research laboratory DeepMind in 2014.
Meanwhile, Disney and YouTube TV struck a multi-year deal to get the entertainment firm’s content back onto the streaming site, CNN reported.
“This new agreement reflects our continued commitment to delivering exceptional entertainment and evolving with how audiences choose to watch,’’ Disney said.
YouTube said it was happy the agreement “preserves the value of our service for our subscribers and future flexibility in our offers”.
In data news, US construction spending rose in August, according to delayed data after the US government shutdown.
Official data showed construction spending increased 0.2% in August, to an annual rate of US$2.17 trillion. Economists had expected spending to contract amid economic uncertainty.
