The European Union was put on notice that Beijing plans to retaliate against the bloc’s newest sanctions. China’s Ministry of Commerce said that last week’s EU penalties against two banks and five companies seriously harmed trade, economic and financial ties.
China’s close ties with the Kremlin had subjected its banks to similar sanctions from the US before, prompting them to re-evaluate businesses and clients. Beijing has a number of diplomatic levers at its disposal, that range from flexing economic power in metal exchanges to piling legal pressure on merchant bankers still wanting a piece of the world’s biggest export market. — Jonathan Tirone
What You Need to Know Today
The report landed like a bombshell on the desks of Credit Suisse executives. It claimed that Sanjeev Gupta, a global steel tycoon and one of the bank’s key borrowers, was a “clear participant” in a multi-billion dollar fraud. The alleged wrongdoing which included fake documents and hidden related-party deals, had cost banks in the United Arab Emirates some 16 billion dirhams ($4.4 billion). A lawyer for Gupta’s GFG Alliance said that the group “categorically” denied any wrongdoing.
Sanjeev Gupta during the Bloomberg Invest conference in Sydney, Australia, in May 2018. Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg
German industry is gearing up with an investment drive worth at least €100 billion ($116 billion) that’s engineered to lift Europe’s biggest economy out of its stagnation. Some 60 companies, including Deutsche Bank and Siemens, are coordinating with Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s new government to raise the money. The corporate vote of confidence comes at a tricky time for Merz, who’s lead over the far-right AfD has narrowed in recent polls.
Ailing European automaker Stellantis dropped a surprise €2.3 billion ($2.7 billion) first-half net loss today. New CEO Antonio Filosa offered investors a first glimpse of his plan to overhaul the automaker for a global car market being reshaped by Trump. Stellantis’s issues are gravest in the former profit center North America, where its shipments fell 25% in the second quarter after Filosa’s predecessor Carlos Tavares angered dealers and unions with a series of painful cost cuts.
Newly manufactured Alfa Romeo vehicles parked at the Stellantis factory in Cassino, Italy Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg
European Central Bank watchers are on high alert this week. Even as investors prep for the next ECB interest rate-setting meeting, they’re also having to weigh a plethora of economic reports gauging where monetary policy is headed. The reports — from lending surveys to an early appraisal of business activity in July — aren’t likely to stop bankers from pausing rate reductions for the first time in a year. But they’ll help determine whether more is needed later in the year.
Israel said it struck Houthi targets in the Yemeni port of Hodeida, retaliating for missile volleys from the group over the last week. Despite repeated Israeli strikes on Hodeida as well as sites such as the airport in the capital, Sanaa, the Houthis have maintained regular missile attacks on Israel and commercial vessels in the Red Sea. Meanwhile, the Israeli army warned Palestinians it intends to start a new military campaign in the heart of the Gaza Strip, amid a breakdown in ceasefire talks and a mounting humanitarian crisis.
Worries about fiscal sustainability and tepid economic growth are enticing governments to embrace a simple but controversial step: reduce the number of public holidays so employees produce more. Yet the economic benefit of doing this would be marginal, writes Chris Bryant in Bloomberg Opinion. There are better ways to boost productivity and the number of hours worked that would neutralize bitter conflicts about how the economic cake is divided.
A waiter serves customers on Lloret beach in Lloret de Mar, Spain Photographer: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg
Can YKK’s Zipper empire hold? In early February, executives from YKK, the world’s largest zipper manufacturer, gathered in Kurobe, Japan, for annual budget meetings. Normally, these gatherings leave time for a bit of schmoozing — karaoke, dinner with old friends, that sort of thing. This year was less freewheeling as it became clear the meetings were an informal referendum on whether global trade was about to come undone.
It was the fall of 2023, and James Lowe, the London-based chef who’d made Lyle’s one of the UK’s best restaurants, realized he needed help. Despite 20 years of cooking experience, including stints in elite kitchens such as the Fat Duck and the River Cafe, the 45-year-old had never butchered a bluefin tuna.
