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Good morning and welcome back to FirstFT Asia. In today’s newsletter:
Bessent on Beijing’s export controls
Israel imposes new limits on Gaza aid
Bumper earnings for Wall Street banks
Why aren’t Chinese collectors paying for their art?
We start in the US, where Scott Bessent has accused China of trying to hurt the global economy in an exclusive interview with the Financial Times. The US Treasury secretary said that Beijing’s export controls are “a sign of how weak their economy is,” the FT’s Demetri Sevastopulo and James Politi report. Here’s what you need to know.
What Bessent is saying: The US Treasury secretary argued that China’s introduction of the controls — three weeks before US President Donald Trump is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea — reflected problems in its own economy. “Maybe there is some Leninist business model where hurting your customers is a good idea, but they are the largest supplier to the world,” Bessent said. “If they want to slow down the global economy, they will be hurt the most.”
“They are in the middle of a recession/depression, and they are trying to export their way out of it,” he added. “The problem is they’re exacerbating their standing in the world.”
Why it matters: US officials were taken aback last week by what they considered China’s disproportionate move to restrict critical minerals supplies, ahead of the planned Trump-Xi meeting. Trump threatened on Friday to impose additional 100 per cent tariffs on China and cancel his planned meeting with Xi. The US president later walked back some of his comments and Bessent confirmed yesterday that the two leaders would still meet at Apec.
You can read our full interview with Bessent here.
China targets US shipbuilding: China has added five US subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean to its sanctions list, triggering global stock market falls.
Export threats: What are the real risks from China’s rare earths curbs? Hakyung Kim examines this in the latest edition of Unhedged.
Déjà vu: Edward Luce asks if the US president’s latest trade brinkmanship is likely to result in another climbdown.
Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today:
Results: Third quarter reporting season continues with Morgan Stanley and Bank of America. Here’s a look from yesterday’s busy day of bank result releases.
Economic data: China releases its September CPI and PPI inflation rate data. Japan publishes its revised August industrial production and retail sales figures.
Russia-Ukraine war: Nato defence ministers will meet in Brussels to discuss the conflict in Ukraine, chaired by Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte.
Five more top stories
1. Israeli soldiers killed several Palestinians in northern Gaza, a day after Trump touted the end of the two-year war. Israeli authorities announced they have imposed new limits on aid into Gaza, as well. In a message to aid groups, Cogat said it would allow only 300 aid trucks to enter the enclave on Wednesday — half the number agreed under the fragile ceasefire deal.
2. Russian authorities are opening a fresh criminal case against one of the Kremlin’s most prominent critics. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former Yukos oil tycoon who was once the country’s richest man, is accused of plotting to overthrow the regime of Vladimir Putin. Twenty-two others, including a former Russian prime minister and chess grandmaster, have also been accused of supporting Ukrainian units to seize power by force.
3. A unit of Madagascar’s military went on national radio to declare it had seized power a day after President Andry Rajoelina fled to an unknown “secure location”. In what amounted to a coup d’état, Colonel Michael Randrianirina said the military would suspend the constitution and dissolve most major national bodies.
4. Jay Powell has signalled that he could be ready to support another interest rate cut later this month. The Fed chair’s latest comments suggest he is becoming more dovish on monetary policy, even as many economists worry that the Trump administration’s tariff policy will spur another bout of inflation across the US economy. Here’s everything else Powell told reporters on Tuesday.
New IMF report: It may exaggerate a gloomy economic backdrop, but there are valid reasons for policymakers to be glum, writes Chris Giles. Sign up for his newsletter on central banks for more insights.
5. Oil prices have fallen to a five-month low after a report estimated a recent “large surplus” of crude supply. If a build-up occurs in the US or Europe, which play more of a role in global oil price formation than China, then this may hit prices even more, the International Energy Agency said.
The Big Read
Bullion is now up more than 50 per cent this year, putting gold on track for its best year since 1979. The rally has been spurred by central banks, mainly in developing countries, who want to diversify their reserve assets away from the US dollar. As investors swarm to buy the precious metal, some are asking: Just how long will the gold mania last?
We’re also reading . . .
Chart of the day
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup have reported bumper profits across their Wall Street divisions, comfortably beating analysts’ estimates. Revenues from investment banking and trading increased by at least 12 per cent at all three banks, in a sign that Wall Street’s much-anticipated revival under the Trump administration is finally starting to materialise.

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Take a break from the news . . .
For decades, the rapidly expanding ranks of millionaires and billionaires in China dominated global art markets, delivering hefty commissions and big profits for auction houses. Now, an overheated market has dropped sharply and buyers are leaving auction houses in the lurch. William Langley goes deep into the slowdown — and why so many winning bidders don’t end up paying.
