Although U.S. President Donald Trump says he only wants to tweak trade ties with Canada, his pledge to renegotiate NAFTA to focus on Mexico is almost impossible and Canada will not emerge unscathed, Canadian officials and trade experts said Tuesday. Trump had warm words for Canadian trade following a meeting …

Mexico Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Tuesday he doubted a proposed border tax on Mexican imports to the United States, which the White House has said could be used to finance President Donald Trump’s border wall, would ever materialize. Speaking on the sidelines of an event in Mexico City, …

A strongly contested union election pits the world’s largest aerospace company against the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers on Wednesday. Three thousand workers at Boeing’s plant in South Carolina are eligible to vote on whether they want to be represented by the union. Many businesses and key political …

Three months after Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president and less than three weeks after a controversial executive order, his intent to restrain immigration may be crimping commerce at the busiest land crossing on the country’s southern border, some local observers say. At the San Ysidro port of entry between …

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s recent plea for relief from decades-old debt to the United States appears to have little chance of success, regional analyst say. Cambodians, they say, would be better off seeking to restructure the debt, easing the repayment burden.  But Hun Sen is sticking with his mantra …

The head of the U.S. central bank says the economy is improving enough to consider raising interest rates during the next few months. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told a congressional committee Tuesday, that she expects the economy to continue its modest expansion.  Yellen warned that waiting too long …

Chief executives of some of America’s largest retailers, including Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. Inc., are headed to Washington this week to make their case that a controversial tax on imports would raise consumer prices and hurt their businesses, according to people familiar with the plan. The group of …

A rising tide of automation, trade problems and lagging growth in productivity has slashed millions of jobs from the U.S. manufacturing sector. At the same time, a small factory in Northbridge, Massachusetts, has been hiring, expanding and exporting. Riverdale Mills hopes to grow further by making unusual products and building …

Americans shower their loved ones with gifts on Valentine’s Day, with chocolate candy being the most popular gift-giving item, according to a recent National Retail Federation survey. The organization estimates consumers will spend $1.7 million on chocolates this year. That keeps Ben Rasmussen, who creates award-winning chocolates, especially busy. VOA’s …

In May 2015, China convened a meeting of representatives of 56 countries to establish the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, against stiff U.S. resistance. This May, Chinese President Xi Jinping is inviting heads of several countries in Asia, Europe and the American continent for a meeting in Beijing under the name …

French car manufacturer Peugeot has bought India’s most iconic car brand from its maker Hindustan Motors in a deal that signifies the passing of an era in India’s motoring history.   Over the weekend, the C.K. Birla Group that owns Hindustan Motors said it had signed an agreement with Peugeot …

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde voiced optimism Sunday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned tax cuts and construction spending would boost the American economy, but said they could cause trouble for the economies around the globe. Lagarde, speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai, said, “From the little …

Somalia intends to resume printing banknotes this year for the first time since the government collapsed in 1991. The governor of Somalia’s central bank, Bashir Issa Ali, told VOA in an exclusive interview Saturday that all technical preparations are complete, and his government is confident it can assemble a financial …

Bolivian farmers and government officials are fighting a locust plague threatening corn and sorghum harvests, just as agricultural areas were starting to recover from the South American country’s worst drought in a quarter century. The locusts, first reported in late January in Bolivia’s eastern grains belt, have affected around 1,000 …

U.S. stocks “melted up” Friday as the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, the Dow Jones industrial average, Nasdaq Composite Index and Russell 2000 Index posted all-time closing highs on continued upward momentum from President Donald Trump, who promised a “phenomenal” announcement about his tax plan in the next two to …

The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo says it is canceling two illegal logging licenses following an investigation by the environmental action group Greenpeace. The Greenpeace probe found that in September 2016, then-Environment Minister Robert Bopolo Mbongeza authorized the two logging concessions, which covered more than 4,000 square …

The Egyptian economy has been showing signs of a slow, but painful recovery since a $12 billion loan from the World Bank, late last year, followed by a number of economic reforms, including the free float of the national currency. Tourism appears to be picking up and foreign investors are …

Private intelligence companies are part of a booming business in London and the British government complains it is having trouble retaining talented agents who are being drawn by high salaries and more growth opportunities in a blossoming industry estimated to be worth $19 billion.   “Our mission is to fill …

One of the major U.S. credit ratings agencies says the Trump administration represents a risk to international economic conditions and could alter global sovereign credit fundamentals. The Fitch Ratings agency says risks have increased because U.S. policy predictability has diminished under Donald Trump, raising the prospects of unanticipated policy changes …

Delta Air Lines has announced plans to hire as many as 25,000 workers over the next five years.   Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement Thursday that the Atlanta-based company is growing its ranks as it expands and upgrades its hubs at several of the nation’s airports. Bastian’s …

In southern Africa, business is booming for a popular Malawian winery, which makes Linga fruit wine. Linga is made from guava, plums and even some local flowers. The winery’s owner has been expanding into international markets while giving back to his community. For VOA, Lameck Masina has the story from …

Africa needs to reform its systems for buying and selling land and invest aggressively in urban infrastructure to create jobs, end poverty and reduce cities’ high living costs, the World Bank said Thursday. Africa’s urban population will double over the next 25 years, reaching 1 billion people by 2040, it …

Wind energy has surpassed hydropower as the biggest source of renewable electricity in the United States following the sector’s second-biggest quarter ever for new installations, a wind industry trade group said Thursday. Wind installations totaled 82,183 megawatts at the end of 2016, enough to power 24 million homes, the American …

More than 700 people took to the streets in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Thursday to protest against the government’s economic policy in a sign of mounting public anger in the oil producer grappling with recession. Africa’s largest economy is mired in its first recession for 25 years as low …

A small U.S. manufacturing company is growing and hiring more people, in part because of lessons it learned from discovering revolutionary processes for making lobster traps and applying those skills to other projects, such as security fencing for the U.S. border with Mexico. Riverdale Mills has expanded from 60 people …