Business

By YURI KAGEYAMA

TOKYO; 31 Aug 2018; (AP) — Global shares mostly fell Friday following a report that the Trump administration could put tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods as early as next week.

KEEPING SCORE: France’s CAC 40 fell 0.5 percent in early trading to 5,451.68. Germany’s DAX lost 0.7 percent to 12,404.10. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.3 percent to 7,496.35. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.1 percent at 25,993. S&P 500 futures were also 0.1 percent lower at 2,898.70.

BRUSSELS, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) has profound disagreements with the United States on trade policy, the European Commissioner in charge of trade Cecilia Malmstrom said on Thursday.

Malmstrom made the remarks when exchanging views with members of the European Parliament during the meeting of the Committee on International Trade (INTA) in Brussels.

"We are not negotiating anything, we have a working group. We have profound disagreements with the United States on trade policy," said the trade chief.

BEIJING, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Sea trials of China's second aircraft carrier have been conducted safely and smoothly and achieved the anticipated goals, China's Ministry of National Defense said Thursday.

Wu Qian, spokesperson for the ministry, said at a regular press conference that the aircraft carrier left a dock at Dalian Shipyard in northeast China's Liaoning Province in recent days for the sea trials to test its equipment platform and facilities.

MALE, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The China-Maldives Friendship Bridge, the first cross-sea bridge in the Maldives, opened to traffic on Thursday evening.

Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen and representative of the Chinese government and head of China's International Development Cooperation Agency Wang Xiaotao attended the bridge opening ceremony.

Speaing at the occasion, Maldivian President Yameen said the bridge is an embodiment of the long relations between the Maldives and China.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to pull his country out of the World Trade Organization (WTO), a move that could further undermine the global trading system and economic stability.

"If they don't shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO," Trump said during an interview with Bloomberg News at the Oval Office.

The comments came as Washington's trade disputes with other economies continue to put global economy at risk, as pundits urge them to be addressed via multilateralism, including the WTO.

BEIJING, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- China is unveiling new tax cuts to boost the real economy while working to ensure full implementation of all existing tax reduction measures, a State Council's executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang decided on Thursday.

BEIJING (AP) — China will make economic changes at its own pace regardless of U.S. pressure, and their worsening dispute over technology policy can only be solved through negotiations as equals, a Commerce Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

The comments reinforced Beijing’s rejection of U.S. demands to scale back technology plans Washington says violate China’s free-trade commitments and might erode American industrial leadership.

NEW DELHI, August 30. /TASS/. The members of the first Indian space crew may undergo training in a foreign state, Russia being one of the options, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, head of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), told journalists.

ISRO will need to take the help of a foreign country for advanced training of the crew, he said. "We have not decided which country we will choose for training. Russia, Germany and USA have the facilities," Sivan said, according to the PTI news agency.

HELSINKI, August 30. /TASS/. European countries should build a new security architecture on the continent together with Russia, French President Emmanuel Macron told a joint news conference with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto on Thursday.

"We discussed many issues, including trans-Atlantic ties and relations with Russia," Macron said. "We want Europe to have strategic and defense autonomy to rebuild European security architecture in a broad sense, like I said several months ago in St. Petersburg, and there is the need to reconsider our relations with Russia."

AIN SOKHNA, Egypt, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) started on Tuesday the main phase of the construction of a new terminal basin in Sokhna Port south of the Suez Canal northeast of Egypt.

The project was assigned to CHEC by the Sokhna branch of the Emirati corporation DP World, the main investor and container operator in the port located at the Gulf of Suez.

At a launching ceremony, CHEC said it will deliver the "Basin 2" project in fewer than 12 months ahead of the deadline.