{"id":34556,"date":"2026-03-18T16:33:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T16:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/34556\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T16:33:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T16:33:15","slug":"us-targets-60-nations-in-new-forced-labor-trade-probes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/34556\/","title":{"rendered":"US Targets 60 Nations in New Forced Labor Trade Probes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s Trade & Business Updates<\/p>\n

U.S. Hits 60 Nations With Probes Before Tariffs Expire: The U.S. launched trade investigations into sixty nations over forced labor to bypass blocked global tariffs.
\nApple Cuts China App Store Commission: Following Chinese regulatory pressure, Apple is reducing its App Store commission rates, saving developers millions annually.
\nCanada Suffers Historic Job Losses Under Weight of U.S. Tariffs: Canada experienced historic job losses and rising unemployment in February, largely driven by heavy U.S. trade tariffs.
\nGlencore Refinery Workers Halt Production Over Stalled Wage Talks: Australian union workers staged a brief strike at Glencore\u2019s copper refinery to protest stalled wage negotiations.<\/p>\n

U.S. hits 60 nations with probes before tariffs expire<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has launched an investigation into 60 global economies, targeting their failure to prohibit the importation of goods produced with forced labor. Led by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, the investigation covers major allies such as Canada and the EU, as well as China and Russia.<\/p>\n

This aggressive move follows the Supreme Court\u2019s blocking of Trump\u2019s previous tariffs. In response, a temporary 10% duty has been introduced.<\/p>\n

Greer intends to conclude the investigations and implement permanent trade remedies before the temporary measures expire in July. It seems that the administration\u2019s goal is to find a way around
***<\/p>\n

Further reading: US opens unfair trade practices probe of 60 countries over forced labor<\/a><\/p>\n

Apple cuts China app store commission
\n\"\"Photo Credit: \u00a0Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p>\n

Apple is reducing its App Store commission rates in mainland China. This is great news for app developers. Starting this Sunday, the tech giant will reduce its standard fee from 30% to 25%. Meanwhile, small app developers will see their rates fall from 15% to 12%.<\/p>\n

This move follows an intense push by Chinese regulators and echoes a growing global backlash against App Store monopolies. The cuts are expected to save major players like Tencent and international developers a combined total of $873 million each year.<\/p>\n

Chinese customers will also benefit from this, most likely in the form of lower prices for digital goods and subscriptions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

***
Further reading: Apple cuts China App Store commission fees after government pressure<\/a><\/p>\n

Featured ESG Tool of the Week:
\nKlimado<\/a> \u2013 Navigating climate complexity just got easier. Klimado offers a user-friendly platform for tracking local and global environmental shifts, making it an essential tool for climate-aware individuals and organizations.<\/p>\n

Canada suffers historic job losses under weight of U.S. tariffs
\n\"\"Photo Credit: \u00a0Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p>\n

In a stunning blow to the Canadian economy, the job market saw a huge loss of more than 89,000 jobs in February, driving the unemployment rate up to 6.7%. If the effects of the pandemic are excluded, this is the worst drop in 17 years, with the actual figure far exceeding analysts\u2019 predictions of a 10,000 job gain.<\/p>\n

The losses are most likely driven by American tariffs on Canada\u2019s vital steel, auto and lumber industries. The downturn was widespread, eliminating 108,400 full-time positions and significantly affecting both the goods and services sectors. Youth unemployment also surged to 14.1%.<\/p>\n

The average hourly wage spiked by 4.2%, creating an economic headache: how to manage rising inflation risks while the labour market cools rapidly under the strain of international trade pressures.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Further reading: Canada\u2019s labor market dips sharply in February, unemployment rate up<\/a><\/p>\n

Glencore refinery workers halt production over stalled wage talks
\n\"\"Photo Credit: \u00a0Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p>\n

Members of the Australian Workers\u2019 Union (AWU) recently staged a four-hour strike at Glencore\u2019s copper refinery in Townsville, North Queensland. This action followed a silent one-year negotiation phase. The workers are demanding higher pay to keep up with rising prices and better working conditions.<\/p>\n

In response, Glencore stated that it is still committed to reaching a fair agreement. However, the company accused the union of \u2018political grandstanding\u2019, claiming that such public displays could hinder the progress made during private negotiations. While the workers have returned to their jobs, the union has indicated that further strikes may occur in the future.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Further reading: Workers strike at Glencore\u2019s Australia refinery over pay dispute<\/a><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com \u2014 Cover Photo Credit: Chuttersnap<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today\u2019s Trade & Business Updates U.S. Hits 60 Nations With Probes Before Tariffs Expire: The U.S. launched trade…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34557,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[351,20467,132,1963,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-34556","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glencore","8":"tag-china","9":"tag-esg-news","10":"tag-glencore","11":"tag-trump","12":"tag-united-states"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116251145331615310","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}