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global trade averages in 2024, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in its Global Trade Update Friday. It said that trends like the widening deficits of the US and EU with China along with India’s rising deficit with Russia amid shifting energy trade could prompt new tariffs, restrictions, or investment shifts, adding to economic uncertainty. However, it cautioned that trade resilience is under pressure in 2025 and as trade uncertainty grows, global cooperation and balanced policies will be key to preventing economic fragmentation and safeguarding long-term growth. Noting that protectionism and shifting trade strategies could disrupt global trade and services trade remains strong but goods trade faces uncertainty, UNCTAD urged balanced policies and multilateral cooperation. Governments are expanding tariffs, subsidies, and industrial policies, reshaping trade flows.

Mark Carney, who navigated crises when he was the head of the Bank of Canada from 2008, and then in 2013 when he became the first noncitizen to run the Bank of England — helping to manage the worst impacts of Brexit in the U.K. — will now try to steer Canada through the trade war brought by Trump. Mark Carney's path to the top job in Canadian politics has been unusual but, as he said when he launched his campaign to succeed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, so are the circumstances. Former central banker Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister on Friday, and will now try to steer his country through a trade war brought by U.S. President Donald Trump, a threat of annexation and an expected federal election. Carney, 59, replaces Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January but remained in power until the Liberal Party elected a new leader. Carney is widely expected to trigger a general election in the coming days or weeks. Carney has called the threats posed by US President Donald Trump «the most serious crisis of our lifetime.»

Diplomats from three countries said they believed they were 99 per cent of the way toward completing a joint statement that would reflect the group's positions. «There is a great deal of unity within the G7,» Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said Friday. «We talked about many different things.… We support the US proposal for a ceasefire, which is supported by the Ukrainians, and we are waiting for the Russian response.» British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the group arrived at common positions on Ukraine, the Middle East, wars in Africa and Chinese activity in the South China Sea.

The ruling Liberal Party overwhelmingly backed Carney to replace Justin Trudeau, betting his experience leading two central banks through historic crises will re-assure Canadians facing a potentially devastating trade war. Carney, who turns 60 on Sunday, is a political novice who has never won an elected public office but his campaign skills will be tested soon with Canada likely headed for a general election in weeks. The threats posed by Trump are expected to dominate the vote. The US president has sought to bludgeon Canada, imposing sweeping import tariffs and threatening further levies while claiming the country is not «viable» on its own and should be annexed by Washington.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Alcohol has landed on the front lines of a global trade war, throwing French wines, Irish whiskeys, Kentucky bourbon, Japanese beer and Mexican tequila into the crossfire between the U.S. and its biggest trading partners.

In a letter sent on Tuesday (11 March) to US trade representative Jamieson Greer, Tesla said it «appreciates» the chance to consult on trade arrangements but warned that «exporters are inherently exposed to disproportionate impacts when other countries respond to US trade actions».  The letter, which was sent unsigned, added that some of the US' past trade actions have led to «immediate reactions by the targeted countries», including increased levies on electric vehicles (EVs) imported into those countries.  US equities tentatively recover as EU and Canada threaten to hit back at Trum...

Reserve Bank of India on Friday. For the previous week, India's forex reserves fell to $638.69 billion in the week ending February 28, 2025, down by $1.7 billion, said the Reserve Bank of India on Friday. India's forex kitty The central bank releases India's forex reserves' data every Friday, closely monitoring the economic indicator of foreign trade.

U.S. gold futures were up 0.7% to $3,013.60.

The premium carmaker expects its earnings margin for cars to be 5-7% in 2025, below an LSEG consensus estimate of 7.3%, dragged down one percentage point by the impact of tariffs already imposed by March 12.

JD Vance shared the Trump administration’s position on key issues like deportation, immigration, border security, economy, and trade during an interview on Fox News' «The Ingraham Angle» on Thursday. Green Card Holders and Deportation Vance addressed the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and green-card holder, recently arrested for allegedly spreading pro-Hamas propaganda. Vance said, «A green card holder… doesn't have an indefinite right to be in the United States.»

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The benchmark Nifty 50 has recently experienced a significant correction of nearly 14% from its peak in September 2024. This led to a sell-off in many sectors, including automobile.

Russian oil supplies to top buyers India and China fell sharply following the January 10 sanctions by the former Biden administration targeting Russian producers Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz as well as insurers and more than 100 vessels to curtail Moscow's oil revenue. While Russian shipments to the two Asian countries have rebounded after more non-sanctioned tankers joined the trade, China's state-run Sinopec and Zhenhua Oil halted purchases of March-loading Russian oil due to concerns over dealing with the sanctioned firms, sources with knowledge of the matter said. The scaled-back buying by Chinese state players has weighed on Russian oil prices, eating into Moscow's revenue and putting additional pressure on Russia ahead of a possible ceasefire deal with Ukraine. A Beijing-based state oil source said his company ceased Russian oil deals as it undertakes more compliance checks and waits for a «clear picture» on a possible Russia-U.S. deal to end the Ukraine war.

Piyush Goyal on Friday said that he had a «forward looking» discussion with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement. «Our approach will be guided by 'India First', 'Viksit Bharat' and our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,» the Commerce Minister wrote on his X timeline, sharing a photograph of the meeting. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal was in the US last week. His visit to the US followed US President Donald Trump and PM Modi's plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by the fall of 2025. The two leaders had committed to designating senior representatives to advance these negotiations. During the recent meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two leaders resolved to expand trade and investment to make their citizens more prosperous, nations stronger, economies more innovative, and supply chains more resilient. They resolved to deepen the US-India trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security and job creation. To this end, the leaders set a bold new goal for bilateral trade — "Mission 500" — aiming to more than double total bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030.

Net profit for October-December for Apple's top iPhone assembler and Nvidia's AI server maker came in at T$46.33 billion ($1.41 billion), missing analysts' average forecast of T$54.4 billion, according to an LSEG consensus estimate of 15 analysts. Foxconn said in January its fourth-quarter revenue jumped 15.2% to a record for that quarter on strong sales of AI servers.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. US President Donald Trump and his team are sending a message: Hang in there through the economic turmoil, and better days will come. A little sacrifice for the greater good may not be such a bad thing.

Apple still needs an import permit from the trade ministry to be able to sell the iPhones locally, the industry ministry has said. The Southeast Asian country of about 280 million people banned iPhone 16 sales last year as the company failed to meet composition requirements regarding locally-made parts.

commerce ministry on Thursday assured domestic exporters, particularly those in labour-intensive sectors like leather and textiles, to protect their interests amid the US tariff threats, industry officials said. The issues related to the country's exports were discussed during a virtual meeting chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. «Held a stakeholder consultation meeting with Export Promotion Councils and Industry Associations to discuss strategies for strengthening India's export ecosystem. »The optimism among our industry stakeholders in transforming global challenges into opportunities is truly encouraging. With an evolving global trade landscape, we explored ways to expand into new markets and strengthen competitiveness to drive India's export growth," the minister said in a post on X.

In an interview with ETMarkets, Ramkumar said: “We also feel infrastructure and defence sectors are in for structural growth in India,” Edited excerpts:

Russia is using cryptocurrencies in its oil trade with China and India to skirt Western sanctions, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the matter. While Russia has publicly encouraged the use of crypto and last summer passed a law to allow digital currency payments in international trade, its use in the country's oil trade has not previously been reported. Some Russian oil companies are using bitcoin, ether and stablecoins such as Tether to smooth the conversion of Chinese yuan and Indian rupees to Russian roubles, the sources said, adding that it is a small but growing part of Russia's overall oil trade, which according to the International Energy Agency was worth $192 billion last year. All the sources declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. Cryptocurrencies have already helped enable countries under U.S. sanctions such as Iran and Venezuela to keep their economies running while avoiding use of the dollar, the preferred currency for transactions in the global oil market.

Shankar Sharma has stirred discussions on social media by advising individuals to avoid stock market investments. His comments, shared on X (formerly Twitter), have gained traction, especially during ongoing market volatility.

Bullion climbed to $2,990.21 an ounce, eclipsing all-time highs set on Thursday and earlier Friday.