The United States' sweeping tariffs are continuing to affect industries across the globe, causing serious economic woes among some of the country's key trading partners.
Battered by U.S tariffs, Germany's industrial output has fallen to its lowest level since May 2020.
Figures released in early August by the country's Federal Statistical Office show industrial output dropped 1.9 percent month-on-month in June and was down 3.6 percent year-on-year.
Data also showed exports to the United States, Germany's biggest single market, have declined for three consecutive months, reaching their weakest point since February 2022.
The auto sector, a pillar industry of the country, was hit hard in the process. Although the U.S. presidential administration recently trimmed the tariff on EU-built cars to 15 percent, German automakers still face "several billion euros" of extra annual costs, according to industry insiders.
According to reports, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen all reported steep profit declines in the first half of the year, while suppliers Bosch, Continental and ZF have announced sweeping cost-reduction plans. Porsche, meanwhile, is scaling back its battery-electric vehicle program.
Consultancy firm EY Germany estimates that the country's industrial workforce has shrunk by 2.1 percent -- about 114,000 jobs -- over the past twelve months. EY calculates that the auto industry alone has shed 51,500 jobs - almost seven percent of its workforce, in the past year, making it the most affected industrial sector.
On Wednesday, The United States began levying a 50 percent tariff on Indian products, sending shock waves through key export industries.
Leather and diamond-processing firms were hit first, as U.S. buyers began canceling orders and factories struggled to stay open.
The Federation of Indian Export Organizations warned on Tuesday that about 55 percent of India's exports to the United States will now suffer a "price disadvantage", eroding competitiveness across labor-intensive sectors such as leather, chemicals and handicrafts. The group urged the Indian government to roll out emergency financial support for exporters already drowning in canceled orders.
US tariff hikes continue to impact trade partners as industries see sharp revenue losses
Around 300 representatives and guests from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies and eight international organizations joined the 16th APEC Energy Ministerial Meeting in Beijing on Thursday and Friday.
They had discussions on three priority directions: high-quality inclusive energy service, mutual empowerment of artificial intelligence and energy, and energy governance synergy in the Asia-Pacific region.
"We chose high-quality inclusive energy service, artificial intelligence and energy, and energy security synergy as three directions for discussions, aiming to address the common concerns of various sides. Inclusive energy service focuses on inclusive development so as to help various economies benefit more from energy-transition outcomes. The integration of digital and intelligent technologies represents the future direction in driving energy transformation through technological innovation. Energy security synergy helps solidify the guarantee for basic needs and ensure the stability of energy supply chains in the region," said Xiong Minfeng, deputy head of the Department of International Cooperation under the National Energy Administration.
The meeting integrated the idea of "high-quality development" into the APEC regional energy cooperation framework, and defined high-quality energy services as "safe and reliable, sufficient and resilient, universally accessible, sustainable and affordable", guiding the focus of regional cooperation to shift from basic energy coverage to the improvement of service quality.
"To model the market in a way that can better work for renewables instead of fossil fuel, so at least definitely not having subsidies to the fossil fuel activities, and pave the ground for all forms of electricity or power. We have to ensure that these tumultuous increase of the use of renewables should also be accompanied by the recycling of the workers that are coming from the fossil fuel system to the new one based on renewables," said Francesco La Camera, director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
"So I think this will be important to realize how we can ensure that energy system could be more affordable, reliable for everyone, that for us to ensure energy security, the choice is renewables. And for making renewables work, we need grids and pipelines that are inter-connected, flexible, and make the electrons and molecules moving from one country to another to ensure energy security and the wellbeing of everyone," he added.
APEC Energy Ministerial Meeting eyes inclusive service, AI empowerment, governance synergy
