US President Donald Trump said he had an “amazing meeting” with Chinese President Xi Jinping that resulted in a trade deal that would see the US halve fentanyl-related tariffs on Chinese goods effective immediately.
The deal will also see China resume soybean purchases and pause its rare-earths licensing regime for at least a year, Trump said.
“I guess, on the scale from zero to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was at a 12,” Trump said. “You know, just the whole relationship is very, very important. I think it was very good.”
The president’s readout to reporters aboard Air Force One indicated that the leaders had largely formalised a framework agreement struck over the weekend by Chinese and US officials in Malaysia.
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Despite speculation that Trump might make additional concessions — including the US opening access to Nvidia Corp’s most advanced Blackwell line or changing its policy toward Taiwan — the president indicated that the issues had not been part of the discussions. Trump and Xi did discuss access to some of the chipmaker’s other products, however.
Still, the tariff rollback represents a significant victory for Beijing, which should now find its exports more competitive than rivals’ that have enjoyed lower levies.
Trump said he planned to travel to China in April, with Xi visiting the US later next year. The leaders also agreed to work together on Ukraine, and said they would remove shipping tariffs and fees.
“We have — it was an outstanding group of decisions, I think, that was made,” Trump said.
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Trump expressed optimism that the Chinese would ramp up investments in the US and consider additional extensions delaying implementation of their rare-earth policy. Beijing has used the restrictions as a cudgel in the trade talks, threatening to restrict access for US and allied manufacturers to critical minerals necessary for high-tech manufacturing of smartphones, jet engines and other widely used products.
Participants in the talks on the American side included US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and US Ambassador to China David Perdue.
For the Chinese, Vice Premier He Lifeng, Xi’s chief of staff Cai Qi, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu were in attendance. — Bloomberg
US Fed cuts rates; Powell signals December move ‘far from’ certain
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cautioned investors against assuming the US central bank would follow its second straight interest-rate cut with another in December.
“A further reduction in the policy rate at the December meeting is not a foregone conclusion, far from it,” Powell said in the opening comments of his post-meeting press conference.
The remarks seemed aimed at reining in expectations in financial markets, where the probability of another quarter-point cut in December was firmly above 90% before he spoke.
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Treasury yields and the dollar jumped, while stocks turned negative after Powell’s comments. Interest-rate swaps showed traders see about a 60% probability for a quarter-point cut in December. Prior to the meeting, a move in December was almost fully priced in.
“It came off as more hawkish than we expected,” said Stephen Juneau, senior US economist at BofA Securities.
The Federal Open Market Committee voted 10-2 to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.75%-4%.
The Fed also said it would stop shrinking its portfolio of assets beginning Dec 1, closing the book on a process that began in 2022. The Fed has since shed more than US$2 trillion ($2.6 trillion) in Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, bringing the balance sheet below US$6.6 trillion, its smallest size since 2020. — Bloomberg
MAS to shift IPO review functions to SGX RegCo; Mainboard profit requirement drops to $10 mil
In an ongoing bid to make the Singapore Exchange (SGX) a more attractive listing destination, the authorities plan to introduce a series of measures to streamline the process.
Currently, the listing process for SGX Mainboard involves reviews by both the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and SGX RegCo. MAS reviews the issuer’s prospectus for compliance with the statutory disclosure requirements under the Securities and Futures Act 2001, while SGX RegCo assesses the issuer’s suitability to list in accordance with SGX’s listing rules.
“The aim is to enable SGX RegCo to exercise its frontline supervision in a risk-proportionate manner that is responsive to market participants’ needs, while maintaining strong standards and independence to foster investor confidence,” says MAS in its consultation paper, where interested parties are to provide their feedback by Nov 29.
This regulatory shift was first mooted when the Equities Market Review Group, led by MAS, announced its first set of measures to revive the local market.
As part of the new measures, the Listing Advisory Committee (LAC) will be stood down. The proposed removal of LAC, according to Tan, will eliminate another regulatory touchpoint. The current existence of three regulatory touchpoints — SGX RegCo, LAC, and MAS — has made Singapore a listing venue “uncompetitive” by perpetuating excessive regulatory uncertainty, thereby lengthening time to market.
“We now have to take into consideration that we are in very, very volatile times, and so time to market is very important, because the IPO windows can open and shut very quickly,” says SGX RegCo CEO Tan Boon Gin.
Previously, the entire regulatory process for IPOs could take several months. With the proposed changes, the approval process can be more efficient, as essentially the regulators involved are now “under one roof”.
This means the aim to process applications in just six to eight weeks can be more certain. “With the changes, we will be able to achieve this much more often and, more importantly, be able to commit to companies that we are going to be able to achieve this timeline more often and with much more confidence,” says Tan.
In conjunction with and following consultation with the industry, SGX will lower the pre-tax profit requirement of Mainboard listings from at least $30 million to $10 million. Companies can apply for a Mainboard listing if they meet other requirements, such as being profitable in their most recent financial year and having a market value of at least $150 million post IPO.
This change is in line with SGX RegCo’s recognition that so-called “pre-revenue” companies with strong growth potential in emerging industries may not meet traditional Mainboard listing requirements. Companies that fall under this flavour are often those in the biotechnology or medical technology industries.
Under revised rules, new issuers need to have a profit of just $10 million, which SGX says is in line with several other exchanges. For example, Hong Kong requires a total profit of HK$80 million ($13.6 million) over three years; the most recent full year must be at least HK$35 million, and the two preceding years must be at least HK$45 million each.
Under current rules, one requirement is to have a post listing a market cap of at least $150 million. A company that earns at least $30 million will presumably far exceed that figure; if not, it means the company is pricing itself at just five times historical earnings. Citing responses to the consultation, SGX says the lower profit requirement is preferred and has therefore been put in place.
Tweaks will be made to SGX RegCo’s public warning system. If unusual trading is detected and there is reason to believe that the market is not fair, orderly or transparent, SGX RegCo will immediately issue trade-with-caution (TWC) alerts.
TWC alerts, which now do not have an expiry date — meaning such “warnings” are perceived to be hanging over the listcos — the latest versions of the TWCs will be valid for two weeks. However, new alerts will be issued as required, SGX RegCo says.
In what might be a popular move, the financial watch-list will be removed in view of unintended negative effects on business confidence and access to financing by the issuers.
Companies that are persistently loss-making are included in the watch-list, or, if their market value drops below $40 million. More companies are included in this list than those that have managed to exit from the list, with Telechoice International the latest to do so. At last count, there were 28 companies in the watch-list, which has been removed as of Oct 30. — The Edge Singapore
