Latest News
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Logitech: Production shift to China reduces tariff impact
Hanneke Faber, the chief executive of Logitech International, said that they are making progress in moving their production lines from China to reduce any impact from U.S. duties on computer peripherals. In April, the changes were announced to reduce the impact of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. These duties currently range between 20% and 30% for the Logitech keyboards and mice that are made in China. Faber said after Logitech announced its Q1 2026 results that "we stated in April that we were at 40 percent of products bound for U.S. coming from China, and by the year's end we will be at 10 percent." She added, "We're a bit better than 30% right now. We are on track." She said that the shift of production lines from Malaysia to Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan did not lead to an increase in material costs. (Reporting and editing by John Revill)
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Microsoft restores service to Russia-backed Nayara Energy
Microsoft has restored its services to the Russian-backed Indian refiner Nayara, Nayara’s lawyer said in a New Delhi Court, just days after it terminated services because of European Union sanctions. Nayara has been forced to scale back operations at its 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery for lack of sufficient fuel storage and vessel owners' demand to end their contracts after it was hit by the EU's latest sanctions. Microsoft has suspended its service following the EU's new round of sanctions against Russia, its energy sector and Nayara. Nayara is majority owned by Russian entities like oil giant Rosneft. Nayara approached a New Delhi Court to order the restoration of Microsoft services. It claimed that its employees could not access company emails or data for their day-today operations. Nayara’s lawyer informed the judge on Wednesday that "the matter has been resolved", as Microsoft had restored services to Nayara. Microsoft has confirmed that it has restored Nayara Energy's services in a press release. Microsoft also added, "We are in constant discussions with the European Union regarding service continuity for the Organization." Rosneft, the Russian oil giant, owns 49.13% of Nayara, and a consortium led by Italy's Mareterra Group, and Russian investment group United Capital Partners, also holds a similar share. Nayara runs India's largest refinery and third-largest retail fuel outlet at Vadinar, in western Gujarat. As reported previously, Nayara turned to the Indian company Rediff.com for communication between its employees after Microsoft's services were discontinued. Reporting by Arpan chaturvedi Editing done by Eileen Soreng, Frances Kerry
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Kazakhstan and Turkey discuss an increase in oil exported via BTC
The press service for the president of Kazakhstan said that the two leaders discussed a possible increase of oil exports from Kazakhstan via the Baku, Tbilisi and Ceyhan (BTC), oil pipeline. The statement did not provide any additional information. "The delegations talked about issues of energy cooperation, including the prospects for increased exports via Baku-Tbilisi Ceyhan oil pipe." Tokayev visited Turkey to attend a high-level meeting of the strategic cooperation council between Turkey and Russia. The agenda included cooperation on power generation, agriculture, and mining. According to state statistics, Kazakhstan increased its oil exports via BTC by 12% in the first half 2025 compared to last year's same period to 785,000 tonnes (34,000 barrels per days). Oil is transported to Baku via tankers from Aktau through the Caspian Sea. This port would need to be upgraded to increase export levels. The quality of the crude oil that enters the BTC pipeline also limits the amount of oil exported via BTC. In its development plan for the period up to 2029, Kazakhstan considered the construction of a transcaspian oil pipeline as well as marine terminals along the Kazakh and Azerbaijani coastlines of the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked nation in the world. Its main source of income is oil exports. The two main routes to export its oil to the international market pass through Russia, to its Black Sea or Baltic ports. Statisticians state that the share of Kazakh oil exported outside Russian ports was just 5.9% in the first six months of 2025, and this percentage remained the same as it was in 2024. Tokayev has called for a rise in oil exports to bypass Russia by 2022. Kazmunaigaz, Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR and the Tengiz Oil Field in Azerbaijan signed an agreement to transport 1.5 million tonnes per year of oil from the Tengiz field to BTC.
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Aena's net profit in Spain increases 10.5% with passenger traffic
Aena, the Spanish airport operator, announced on Wednesday that its net profit for the first half of the year was up 10.5% compared to the same period last year as the passenger traffic in the second most visited country worldwide after France continued to increase. The company that manages Spanish airports, the largest airport system in the world in terms of passenger traffic, announced on Wednesday that it had made a profit of 893.8 millions euros ($1.03billion) during the first half of the year. This was slightly below the average analyst's forecast of 904.2million euros based on an LSEG study. Aena saw a 4.5% increase in passenger traffic year-on year. 150.6 million passengers passed through its terminals in Spain over the first half of the year. This helped the company to boost revenues by 9%, reaching 2.9 billion euro. Aena, the Spanish airport authority, reported that international traffic at Spanish airports increased by 6.5% during the first half of this year while domestic traffic grew by 0.4%. Spain's strategy to target long-haul visitors, who spend more, was reflected in the results. Tourism is projected to grow by 3.3% in 2018, outpacing the Spanish economy's 2.4% growth. Commercial revenues increased by 10% while flight-related incomes grew by 6%. Aena approved an increase of 6.5% in the fees that airlines will pay next year. They can expect to pay up to 11.03 euros for each passenger. The company wants to partially fund the expansion of Madrid's main airports. Barcelona More flights to Asia and America.
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New York Times Business News - July 30,
These are the most popular stories from the New York Times' business pages. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports. Vinay Prashad, chief medical and scientific officer of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has resigned from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (which oversees the FDA). After a rare 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit Russia's east coast, the National Weather Service upgraded its tsunami warning to cover a 100-mile stretch of Northern California coastline between Cape Mendocino bordering Oregon. Union Pacific announced that it would purchase smaller rival Norfolk Southern for $85 billion, creating the first coast-tocoast freight railroad operator in the United States. This will reshape how goods are moved across the country from grains to automobiles. Apple is closing a retail store in Northeastern China this August. This will be the first time Apple has closed a location since opening its first outlet there in 2008. (Compiled by Bengaluru Newsroom)
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Wall Street Journal, July 30,
These are the most popular stories from the Wall Street Journal. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. California-based Palo Alto Networks has entered into talks with Israeli cybersecurity company CyberArk Software to purchase it in a deal valued at over $20 billion. Union Pacific announced that it will buy the smaller competitor Norfolk Southern for $85 billion. This deal will create the United States' first coast-to-coast rail freight operator, and change the way goods are transported across the nation from grains to automobiles. CBL Properties, based in Tennessee, has acquired four malls for the middle market from Washington Prime Group. The purchase price was $178.9m. This indicates that mall recovery extends beyond high-end and luxury properties. Mars, the candy and snack giant, announced that it will invest an additional $2 billion in its U.S. business through the end of next year. This investment is part of the company's efforts to continue to expand production in the U.S. JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank, is in advanced discussions to acquire Apple's credit cards program from Goldman Sachs. After senior White House officials intervened, a Trump administration attempt to block funding to all outside health researchers has been scrapped.
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Ferrovial's profit for the first half of 2018 is up 30%, thanks to U.S. highways
The Spanish construction giant Ferrovial announced late on Tuesday that its first-half profits had increased by 30% as revenues from the toll roads business in North America and Canada continued their strong performance. The net income increased to 540 millions euros (623.92millions) from 414 millions euros in the same period last year. Ferrovial Chief Executive Ignacio Madridejos said that the company's revenues increased by 5% during the first half of this year, partly because "the strong performance across all its North American assets". Ferrovial's revenue in the first half of its fiscal year from its highways division increased 15% thanks to the performance and traffic increase on its U.S. Express Lanes and Canada's 407. Ferrovial reported an increase in freight traffic in the United States during the first few months of this year. This reflects a rise in commercial activity in ports and on roads, while the Trump administration is discussing new tariffs. The company's construction division, which manages and builds concessions for motorways and airports, achieved an adjusted EBIT of 3.5%. North America represented 45% of the company's 17.3 billion euro order book. Ferrovial will build a new terminal for the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, which is expected to be finished by 2027. It is also focusing its efforts on bidding projects for express lanes in the U.S.
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Wordline forecasts decline in 2025 organic revenue
Worldline, a French digital payment company, said that it expects to see a decline of organic revenue in the low single digits by 2025 after a "challenging first half". The Paris-based firm has set a target of adjusted earnings before tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), between 825 to 875 million euros ($1 billion), this year. In a conference call with journalists, CEO Pierre-Antoine Vacheron stated that there was still work to do over the next few quarters to return to a growth level consistent with the market. Worldline delayed its annual guidance in April, following a strategic revamp initiated in May after the appointment of Vacheron. In February, the company forecast a similar growth rate in revenue for 2025 as it did last year. In June, the shares of Worldline lost more than a third in value on a single morning after a group consisting of 21 European media outlets claimed that Worldline had covered up fraud by clients to protect its revenue. The shares of the company hit a low point of 2.70 euros, before recovering in part. They closed at 3.57 euros, Tuesday, which valued the business at one billion euros. In June, Belgian prosecutors began an investigation into possible money laundering activities in its Belgian unit. Worldline engaged Accuracy as an auditing firm in July for its remaining merchant portfolio that engages in "risky activities". The company announced on Wednesday that the preliminary findings of this review indicate that there is no "material" reason to terminate any more client relationships. The company's analyst poll predicted 2.22 billion euros for the half-year, but it was only 2.20 billion. The company stated that the performance reflects challenges faced in the past months. Worldline announced on Tuesday that it had sold its Mobility & E-Transactional Services business to Magellan Partners for a price of up to 410 millions euro. Srikanth Seshadri, who will replace Gregory Lambertie as Chief Financial Officer at the company on September 8, was also announced. (1 dollar = 0.8663 euro) (Reporting and editing by Leo Marchandon)
US importers use brokers to negotiate Trump's tariffs at a price
U.S. importers rely on customs brokers more and more to keep up with the ever-changing policies of President Donald Trump. The industry said that the booming demand for assistance in processing foreign products has increased the cost of these services, which adds another cost to tariffs.
Customs brokerages, which were until recently an unrecognized branch of the import industry, now handle all the paperwork required to process shipments, calculate tariff bills, and calculate the paperwork. Brokers interviewed by said they were raising their fees. Major logistics companies like Memphis, Tennessee based FedEx, and Germany based DHL have also added staff to their customs teams.
Customs brokerage is estimated by market research firms to be a $5 billion dollar industry in the United States. Although hiring a customs broker is not mandatory, the complexity of U.S. tariffs & regulations is driving more importers into the market.
JD Gonzalez, an independent broker based in Laredo, Texas, answers dozens of client questions every day. Clients are concerned about what they might owe U.S. Customs and Border Protection and are unsure whether or not to proceed with shipments.
Brokers spend more time than ever on customs forms, and in some cases have implemented new IT systems.
"With all of the new information that we need to process, we've had to throw out some of the automated processes we used, so we've got more work to be done," said JD Gonzales, who is president of the custom brokerage trade association NCBFAA.
This trend is part a larger wave of corporate efforts aimed at bolstering trade compliance operations. As of Wednesday, major companies such as Nike, Amazon, and Lowe's had posted job listings for trade and customs specialists.
Nike posted a job on its careers website seeking a "lead", who would "play an important role in shaping our trade compliance framework," the post said. Amazon's careers site listed at least ten U.S. Customs Brokerage jobs. Lowe's listed three.
Nike, Amazon and Lowe's have not responded to our requests for comment.
Fees Increased
Brokers often base their charges on the number codes they have to enter in order to classify a shipment. These line items, also known as harmonized Tariff Schedule Codes, help border officials to distinguish between car parts and children's toys. They can then determine the correct tariff rates.
Before Trump's frenetic policies on tariffs, fees were anywhere from $4 to $7 for each code. Gonzalez stated that the additional costs brokers have incurred while ramping up systems to deal with the tariff changes has led to some increasing fees by $1-$5 per code.
Gonzalez claimed that he had raised fees only "nominally," but Steve Bozicevic of A&A Customs Brokers, based in Seattle and Vancouver said his company increased the fee by $3 for each product type imported to the U.S. due to merchandise being subjected "tariff stacking," which is a term used when an item is subjected multiple tariffs.
Bozicevic stated that "we raised the rates for U.S. due to the added complexity." He said that the company hasn't raised rates on imports to Canada, because "there is no new complexity."
United Parcel Service increased brokerage rates between $3.75 to $50 per import entry in December, depending on country of origin. UPS's spokesperson said that the move was not related to tariff changes and was part of a general rate increase. FedEx's Logistics arm increased its customs brokerage base rates by 4%, according to the company spokesperson.
The larger logistics companies that offer brokerage services as part of their shipping offerings are also increasing staff. DHL's DHL Express shipping division claims that the company has increased its U.S. Customs Entry team headcount by 30% since February.
According to the LinkedIn Jobs page, FedEx has more than 40 job openings in its customs teams and trade departments, most of which are based in America. UPS has 10 positions in the U.S., according to their jobs website.
FedEx "adjusts our network to meet the demand" of an evolving tariff landscape. "This includes hiring additional customs broker roles," said the spokesperson. UPS declined to comment about the job listings.
Brokers, trade lawyers, and other professionals in the trade industry say that historically, tariff changes were less frequent. They also came with a lead time of weeks, which allowed brokers to prepare and give logistical feedback to CBP.
Compare this to Trump's sudden announcement of 50% steel and aluminum tariffs last week, forcing U.S. Customs Department to publish an official guide just hours before midnight.
"Many customs brokers clear shipments in advance, and then you need to go back and retroactively fix it," said Miami's Ralph De La Rosa. His father founded Imperial Freight Brokers 54 years ago.
Brokers who did not raise their fees say that the increase in HTS codes is making services more expensive.
Importers reduced shipments after Trump's announcement of massive tariffs on April 2. They had frontloaded purchases earlier in year to get ahead the expected increase in duties.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, imports of consumer products, including cell phones and household items, fell $68.9 Billion to $277.9 Billion in April compared to a month earlier. Trump announced new tariffs for steel and aluminum in the month of June, and threatened to impose tariffs of 50% on European Union imports in May.
A federal appellate court ruled on Tuesday that tariffs could remain in place while the appeals process is underway, after a US trade court ruled the president had overstepped his executive power and blocked the duties. The appellate court scheduled arguments for the 31st of July. Reporting by Arriana McCLymore in New York and Nicholas Brown, editing by Lisa Jucca and David Gaffen, Andrea Ricci
(source: Reuters)