A single country raising tariffs dents that country’s exporters. Sixty countries absorbing new US duties on the same day is a different animal entirely, and currency and bond markets have far more reason to be nervous about it than most equity investors currently seem to grasp. The new rates land between 10% and 12.5%, and the split between those two bands is where this gets interesting. Japan […]
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Dangote Cement Plc is favouring London over Dubai for a planned international listing, arguing that the UK market offers a faster route to investors and better suits the group’s expanding cement business. Mariya Dangote, a board member and executive director responsible for the group’s cement and food businesses, said the company had considered a secondary listing in Dubai but concluded that completing the process there could take […]
Hackers exploited Wanchain’s bridge connecting Cardano and BNB Chain, draining about 515 million NIGHT tokens valued at roughly $9 million and forcing the affected cross-chain route to suspend operations. The attack targeted infrastructure operated by Wanchain rather than the Cardano or Midnight blockchains. Midnight Foundation said its network, validators and consensus system remained secure, seeking to contain concern that the breach had compromised the underlying privacy-focused protocol. […]
Mirae Asset Group has completed its acquisition of Korbit, placing South Korea’s first cryptocurrency exchange under the control of one of the country’s largest financial conglomerates and accelerating the convergence of traditional finance and digital assets. Mirae Asset Consulting became Korbit’s largest shareholder after completing regulatory and transaction procedures. The deal gives the group control of more than 90 per cent of the exchange, following an agreement […]
A Saudi-owned oil products tanker was struck in the Red Sea, triggering a fire at its bow and raising fresh concerns over the security of energy shipments along one of the world’s most important maritime corridors. All crew members aboard the Encelia were safe after the attack, the Transport General Authority said on Thursday. Emergency measures were taken to secure the vessel, contain the fire and prevent […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone has partnered with Fazaa to give eligible employees of registered companies access to membership benefits, discounts and services across the UAE. The agreement allows qualifying workers to subscribe through RAKEZ to Fazaa’s Silver, Gold and Platinum membership tiers. Benefits are available across healthcare, restaurants, retail, automotive services, beauty and wellness, furniture, property services and car rentals. RAKEZ will […]
Trump announced that generic drugs entering the United States would remain free of import duties until August 1, 2028. A tariff of 100% would then apply for one year, followed by a 200% levy from August 2029. The proposed schedule extends Washington’s pharmaceutical reshoring campaign beyond patented and branded medicines, which were targeted earlier.
India faces the greatest exposure because the United States is its largest pharmaceutical export market. Drug exports to the country were valued at about $9.7 billion in 2025, representing roughly 38% of total pharmaceutical shipments worth $25.8 billion.
The policy nevertheless does not automatically remove the price advantage enjoyed by manufacturers such as Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Aurobindo Pharma, Cipla, Lupin and Zydus Lifesciences. Many generic medicines produced in India are priced seven to 10 times below branded alternatives, leaving room for some products to remain competitive even after steep duties.
A medicine imported for $10 would cost $30 after a 200% tariff, excluding distribution and retail charges. It could still undercut a branded equivalent priced at $70 or $100. The calculation is less favourable for commodity generics, where several manufacturers compete on narrow margins and buyers demand the lowest possible price.
Generic medicines account for more than 90% of prescriptions dispensed in the United States but less than 13% of prescription-drug spending. That imbalance reflects their importance to American healthcare as well as the pressure placed on manufacturers by pharmacy chains, wholesalers, insurers and purchasing organisations.
The United States imported pharmaceutical products valued at about $213 billion in 2025. Finished medicines sold in retail packaging, including generic products, accounted for about $94.1 billion. Replacing those imports would require extensive investment, specialised workers, regulatory approvals and dependable supplies of active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Building a pharmaceutical plant can take several years. Companies must install production lines, validate manufacturing processes and secure approval from the US Food and Drug Administration before commercial sales begin. Each medicine may also require separate technical submissions and inspections, complicating attempts to shift large portfolios within the two-year exemption period.
Several major drugmakers have already established manufacturing or research operations in the United States, providing limited protection against future tariffs. Companies may expand those facilities, acquire local plants or transfer selected high-volume products while continuing to manufacture lower-margin medicines overseas.
The tariff could affect businesses unevenly. Manufacturers with specialised generics, injectable drugs, inhalers and complex formulations may have greater pricing power. Producers dependent on crowded categories such as basic tablets and capsules could face heavier pressure because customers can switch suppliers more easily.
Shares of leading pharmaceutical companies fell after the announcement, with some declining by more than 3% during Wednesday’s trading. The reaction reflected concern over long-term earnings rather than an immediate change in export conditions, as the duty-free window remains open for two years.
Implementation is also uncertain. Trump disclosed the schedule through a social-media statement, but no detailed executive order or customs framework had been issued. The administration must still clarify whether exemptions will be available for companies building factories, medicines facing shortages, critical hospital products or imports from countries covered by trade agreements.
Industry participants are expected to seek exclusions for essential medicines, arguing that tariffs could raise treatment costs and deepen shortages. The American generic-drug market has already faced supply disruptions linked to plant closures, quality failures and unsustainable pricing. Higher import costs could encourage some manufacturers to withdraw products rather than invest in additional capacity.
Washington’s strategy also faces a supply-chain constraint beyond finished medicines. A large portion of the active ingredients and chemical intermediates used by global manufacturers originates in China. Moving final production to the United States without diversifying those inputs would provide only partial protection against overseas disruption.
Drugmakers in India now have until August 2028 to adjust their production networks, negotiate with customers and identify medicines capable of absorbing higher duties. Expansion into Europe, Africa, Latin America and other regulated markets could reduce dependence on the United States, although none offers comparable scale.
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Markets rarely break for one reason. Right now there are four forces pulling at global equities simultaneously, and none of them has fully played out yet. Investors heading into next week need to understand all four, because treating any single one in isolation misses the bigger picture. Start with the rotation nobody predicted a month ago. Tech has stalled while old-economy value has caught a bid. The […]
US stocks rose on Monday as chipmakers recovered from last week’s sell-off, reassuring investors that artificial intelligence remains perfectly capable of generating profits, provided nobody asks where the profits are. The S&P 500 gained about 0.6%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced roughly 0.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a smaller rise as traders concentrated on semiconductor shares, corporate earnings and the comforting possibility that another […]
The decision was announced during the discussion “Competition Development in Global Grain Trade: Joint Efforts of BRICS Countries”, organized by the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre on the sidelines of the 23rd Session of the UNCTAD Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy in Geneva.
The event included a closed meeting of BRICS competition authorities and a public panel featuring researchers, academics and representatives of international organizations.
Discussions focused on competition in global grain markets, the growing influence of financialization and digitalization across agricultural value chains, and policy tools to improve market transparency. Participants also reviewed the findings of a joint report prepared by the BRICS Competition Centre and UNCTAD (link: https://www.bricscompetition.org/ru/grainreport) , first presented at the 9th BRICS International Competition Conference in Cape Town in 2025.
A coordinated market study
The central outcome of the meeting was the establishment of a BRICS task force that will coordinate a joint sector inquiry into global grain trade within the framework of the BRICS Working Group on Food Markets.
The task force will be co-chaired by Diogo Thomson, President of Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), and Mahmoud Momtaz, Chairperson of the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA).
Thomson welcomed the initiative and proposed making competition in global grain trade a key topic at the next BRICS International Competition Conference, scheduled to take place in Brazil in 2027.
“Brazil is the only jurisdiction that has launched an investigation into digital grain trading platforms such as Covantis. I therefore strongly welcome this sector inquiry, which will help us better understand the impact of digitalization across grain supply chains and the risks it may create for competition. I also support using the BRICS Competition Centre as the coordination platform for this work,” he said.
Momtaz said one of the main conclusions of the BRICS-UNCTAD report was the significant role speculative activity plays in global grain markets.
“One of the key findings of the report presented by the BRICS Competition Centre is the extent to which speculative factors influence global grain trade. The most effective response is greater market transparency. We should not accept a situation where farmers receive only a small share of the value they create while consumers in Egypt pay excessively high prices for bread. Where does this margin accumulate, and who ultimately benefits from it? These are the questions our sector inquiry should answer,” he said.
He also proposed that the task force develop a common AI-powered price monitoring tool covering BRICS grain markets.
“Such a tool would provide the information needed for market analysis and become an important complement to the joint sector inquiry,” Momtaz added.
From analysis to policy recommendations
Hardin Ratshisusu, Deputy Commissioner of the Competition Commission of South Africa, said the study should contribute to the implementation of the BRICS Grain Exchange initiative endorsed by BRICS leaders in the Kazan Declaration (2024) and the Rio de Janeiro Declaration (2025).
“The proposal to establish a BRICS Grain Exchange should become one of the key recommendations of the sector inquiry as an innovative mechanism for restoring competition in global grain trade. Our objective is not merely to identify market problems but to develop practical recommendations that can ultimately be submitted to the leaders of our countries,” he said.
Alexey Ivanov, Director of the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre, said competition authorities should play a central role in designing the institutional framework of the future exchange.
“The BRICS Grain Exchange should not become another formal institution. It must serve as a practical mechanism for improving competition and market transparency. Competition authorities are uniquely positioned to identify the institutional features that will allow the exchange to achieve these objectives,” he said.
Growing international role
Frédéric Jenny, Chairmanof the OECD Competition Committee, said the initiative demonstrated the growing international role of BRICS competition authorities.
“This project illustrates how BRICS competition authorities are becoming drivers of the global competition agenda. In the past, they largely followed the lead of developed jurisdictions. That is no longer the case. There are very few examples worldwide of such close cooperation between competition authorities. This applies not only to joint market studies, but also to enforcement cooperation and competition advocacy. Rather than acting individually, you have found both the mechanisms and the political will to work together,” Jenny said.
The task force will now begin developing the methodology and work plan for the joint inquiry. Its findings are expected to provide policy recommendations aimed at strengthening competition, improving transparency in global grain trade, and supporting future BRICS initiatives in agricultural markets.
Hashtag: #BRICSCompetition
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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The online fashion retailer is considering an offer of between $2 billion and $3 billion, although the final size will depend on its valuation, investor demand and prevailing market conditions. The timetable could also change as the company completes the remaining stages of Hong Kong’s listing process.
Shein is scheduled to face the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s listing committee this week. Approval at the hearing would allow the company and its advisers to move towards investor presentations, price discovery and bookbuilding.
Some people involved in the process expect the shares to begin trading in September or October rather than August, reflecting the time required to complete regulatory documentation and market the offer to institutional investors. A successful listing would rank among Hong Kong’s largest consumer-sector flotations in years.
China’s securities regulator has approved the proposed sale of up to 341.6 million H shares. The clearance removed one of the biggest obstacles confronting Shein, which submitted confidential listing documents in Hong Kong about a year ago after encountering difficulties in New York and London.
The company could seek a valuation of between $40 billion and $50 billion. That would represent a sharp retreat from the $100 billion valuation achieved during a private funding round in 2022, when pandemic-era online shopping growth and investor enthusiasm for digital retail pushed its value above several established fashion groups.
Shein was valued at about $66 billion in 2023. The lower range being discussed for the Hong Kong offer reflects tighter investor scrutiny, greater competition, changing customs rules and concern over the durability of its low-cost cross-border business model.
The retailer, founded in Nanjing in 2012 by entrepreneur Sky Xu and now headquartered in Singapore, sells inexpensive clothing and lifestyle products across roughly 150 markets. Its data-driven system tests products in small batches, measures consumer demand and orders additional stock when items gain traction.
That model has helped Shein respond rapidly to fashion trends while limiting unsold inventory. It has also placed pressure on traditional retailers and brought intense scrutiny of production volumes, environmental impact, working conditions and supplier oversight.
Although Shein has positioned itself as a global company, much of its manufacturing network remains concentrated in China, particularly around Guangzhou and other parts of Guangdong province. That dependence brought the company within the scope of China’s overseas-listing review system despite the relocation of its corporate headquarters.
Shein previously pursued a New York flotation but faced political resistance and demands for deeper examination of its supply chain, data practices and alleged exposure to forced labour in Xinjiang. The company has said it maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards forced labour and requires suppliers to comply with its sourcing standards.
A subsequent attempt to list in London also stalled. Britain’s financial regulator had cleared the company’s prospectus, but the transaction could not proceed without approval from Beijing. Disagreements surrounding disclosures about supply-chain risks complicated the process.
Hong Kong offers Shein a venue closer to its manufacturing base and within a regulatory framework more acceptable to Beijing. The city’s market, however, may produce a lower valuation than the company once expected from New York or London, where international consumer and technology companies have traditionally attracted broader investor coverage.
The proposed offer comes during a strong period for Hong Kong listings. Companies raised about HK$209.9 billion across 85 new flotations during the first half of 2026, the market’s best first-half performance in five years. A pipeline of hundreds of applicants has strengthened expectations that the city could remain among the world’s leading fundraising centres this year.
Shein’s leadership is also changing as the listing approaches. Executive chairman Donald Tang is expected to step down and continue as a senior adviser. Tang played a central role in the company’s engagement with governments, regulators and investors during its attempts to secure a Western listing.
Xu is expected to take a leading role in presenting the investment case to prospective shareholders. Investors are likely to examine Shein’s growth prospects, profit margins and ability to adapt to customs changes, particularly the removal of duty-free treatment for low-value packages entering the United States from China and Hong Kong.
