China preparing blacklist of US companies, signaling threat to trade talks

International News
Chinese state media said the government will soon publish a list of “unreliable entities” that could lead to sanctions against US companies, signaling that trade talks between the two nations are increasingly under threat from disputes over human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
The Communist Party-backed Global Times said in a tweet early Tuesday that the list was being sped up in response to a bill sponsored by Republican Senator Marco Rubio requiring measures against Chinese officials involved in alleged abuses of Uighur Muslims in the far west region of Xinjiang.
Beijing has threatened to publish such a list of companies since May, after the US placed restrictions on Huawei Technologies Co.
A response from China on the Xinjiang issue that hits US companies would add another obstacle as the two countries struggle to finalise a phase-one deal to de-escalate the trade war. On Monday, US President Donald Trump said that legislation signed last week censuring China over the protests in Hong Kong had already complicated the talks.
Global Times Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin went further on Twitter, saying that US officials may face visa restrictions and US passport holders could be banned from entering the province. China stands accused of incarcerating as many as a million Uighurs as part of an anti-terrorism campaign, actions it describes as voluntary re-education.

China hasn’t specified which companies would be affected by the blacklist, though courier firm FedEx Corp. has been under particular scrutiny this year. A re-escalation of trade tensions also places more focus on a Dec. 15 deadline for Trump to add yet more tariffs on Chinese imports....Read More

Oil prices near 2019 highs amid supply cuts by OPEC, US sanctions

International News

Oil prices on Friday hovered close to 2019 peaks reached the previous day, propped up by supply cuts led by producer club OPEC and by US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela.

Brent crude oil futures were at $67.82 per barrel at 0122 GMT, down 4 cents from their last close but within a dollar of the $68.69 per barrel 2019-high marked the day before.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $60 per barrel, virtually unchanged from their last settlement and not far off their 2019 peak of $60.39 touched on Thursday.

Prices have been propped up by supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-affiliated allies such as Russia, often referred to as 'OPEC+'.

Despite a more than a quarter increase in crude prices this year, Canadian investment bank RBC Capital Markets said oil was "still below the fiscal breakeven level in a number of OPEC countries", meaning that many producers have an interest in further propping up the market.

"With the driver of the OPEC bus, Saudi Arabia, showing no signs of wavering in the face of renewed pressure from Washington, we believe that OPEC is likely to extend the deal for the duration of 2019 when they next assemble in Vienna in June," RBC said.

RBC said Russia was only a reluctant partner in the supply cuts, but would "ultimately opt to preserve the arrangement and retain a leadership role of a 21-nation group that accounts for around 45 per cent of global oil output".


 Beyond OPEC and Russia's supply policy, oil prices have also been boosted by US sanctions on OPEC-members Iran and Venezuela...Read More