• Japan's exports fell for a second straight month, dropping 0.5% year-on-year, as sweeping U.S. tariffs took a toll on the country's manufacturers, with its fragile economy exposed to greater risks from the global trade war in the coming months. Japan failed to clinch a deal with the U.S. before the July 9, 2025, expiration of the temporary pause on the country-specific tariffs after it focused on eliminating the existing sectoral 25% tariffs on automobiles, a mainstay of the export-reliant economy.
• "The tariff impact is likely to intensify in coming months, when the tariff rate is finalised and Japanese companies begin to fully pass on costs to consumers in the U.S., which would hamper the competitiveness of Japanese products there," Daiwa Institute of Research economist Koki Akimoto said.
• Nonetheless, the volume of automobile shipments rose 3.4%, indicating Japanese automakers are cutting prices on exported cars and absorbing tariff costs to stay competitive. "Japanese automakers have so far kept production levels by sacrificing margins, so the tariff impact on their production activities has been limited," Koya Miyamae, senior economist at SMBC Nikko Securities, said. However, Daiwa's Akimoto noted that Japanese companies would be forced to raise prices eventually, as trade negotiations drag on and the yen stays relatively strong.
• The U.S. tariffs are adding to pressure on the Japanese economy, which is struggling due to lacklustre domestic consumption. Japan's economy shrank in the first quarter as rising living costs hurt demand. Further, prolonged uncertainties over the impact of the tariffs and the course of trade negotiations will likely force the Bank of Japan to keep focusing on downside risks to the economy and to put rate hikes on hold for the time being, analysts say.

(Source: Reuters)

• Guardian Holdings Ltd (GHL), on July 15, 2025, announced that its board of directors had approved the acquisition of the pension fund management portfolio of NCB Insurance Agency & Fund Management Ltd on July 11.
• The pension fund management portfolio was acquired by Guardian Life Ltd (GLL), which is GHL’s life, health and pension business based in Jamaica. The transaction involves related parties as NCB Financial Group (NCBFG) owns 61.77% of GHL and 100% of NCB Insurance Agency & Fund Management Ltd.
• In a notice published on the website of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, GHL described the transaction as a strategic initiative, adding that the acquisition “is expected to deliver strategic and financial value to GLL and by extension the group, strengthen market position and grow Shareholder value in the medium to long term.”
• In September 2020, NCBFG streamlined its Jamaican insurance business through the transfer of the insurance and annuities portfolios of NCB Insurance Company Limited to fellow subsidiary Guardian Life Ltd.
• Following the transfer of the portfolios, NCBIC changed its name to NCB Insurance Agency & Fund Management, as the company continues to provide pension fund administration and investment management services.

(Sources: JSE, Trinidad and Tobago Guardian)

• Kingston Wharves Limited (KW) announced on July 15, 2025, that it has acquired a 27.126% stake in Cargo Handlers Limited (CHL) as it continues its expansion into Western Jamaica. This now makes KW the second largest shareholder in the Montego Bay company, and CHL an associate company^[1] of KW.
• The acquisition was made for investment purposes as KW, in its press release, noted that Cargo Handlers Limited is well-positioned to both contribute to and benefit from important national trends, namely, the prospects for growth in logistics generally and for the ongoing development of Jamaica’s North Coast.
• That said, KW received an option to acquire additional shares, which, if exercised, would increase its ownership in the company by an additional 13%. The company noted that it will be evaluating opportunities for continued investment in CHL stock in line with its investment goals and the needs and prospects of CHL.
• However, it does not immediately intend to make any significant sales (or purchases) of stock units in CHL. As such, KW does not plan to seek control of CHL or to acquire a majority shareholding in the company.

(Source: JSE)

^[1] An associate company is a business where another company holds a significant but non-controlling stake, typically between 20% and 50% of the voting shares.

• Trinidad and Tobago’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 1.8% from June 2024 to June 2025, slightly accelerating from a 1.7% rise in the year to May 2025.
• CPI excluding energy and unprocessed food, grew by 2.0% in the 12 months to June 2025. The divisions with the largest increases in the 12 months to June 2025 were Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+4.6%) and Recreation & Culture (+3.5%).
• The divisions to record the largest declines when compared with June 2024 were Clothing & Footwear (-2.3%) and Transport (-2.0%).
• Between May and June 2025, consumer prices increased by 0.5%, mainly driven by rises in Recreation & Culture (3.6%) and Transport (1.2%), while Clothing & Footwear (-0.5%) and Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (0.4%) saw the largest declines.

(Source: Central Statistics Office)

• Attorney General Dale Marshall has welcomed the long-awaited removal of Barbados from the European Union (EU) list of high-risk third countries, saying it clears a major hurdle for Barbadian individuals and companies doing business in the EU.
• Marshall confirmed in a statement that the required delegated legislation was published in the EU’s Official Journal, giving effect to the decision. Barbados will be officially removed from the blacklist on 5 August.
• The practical effect of now being removed from this blacklist is that EU financial institutions no longer need to conduct enhanced due diligence on parties and transactions from Barbados. The need for enhanced due diligence has caused many EU banks to refuse to do business with Barbadian companies, which has not only hindered personal transactions but also hurt the country’s ability to conduct business with EU entities.
• The AG noted that removal from the EU list had been delayed because some EU members objected to the removal of other jurisdictions from the list, and under their “all or nothing” procedures, no other country could be removed.
• He highlighted the administration’s significant investments in institutions, the creation and staffing of new entities, enhanced training, updated legislation, and the adoption of new standards to strengthen Barbados’s fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

(Source: Barbados Today)

• Britain's annual rate of consumer price inflation unexpectedly rose to its highest in over a year at 3.6% in June 2025, official figures showed on Wednesday, June 17, 2025, slightly dampening expectations for further cuts in Bank of England (BoE) interest rates. June's reading from the Office for National Statistics took the annual CPI rate to its highest since January 2024, against expectations from economists in a Reuters poll for it to remain unchanged at May's reading of 3.4%.
• British inflation has risen steadily since touching a three-year low of 1.7% last September, and in May 2025, the BoE forecast it would peak at 3.7% in September 2025 - almost twice the central bank's 2% target. Following the release of the data, the Sterling rose slightly against the dollar, five-year gilt yields hit a one-month high and financial markets priced in slightly lower chances of a quarter-point BoE rate cut in August and another later in the year.
• Food and non-alcoholic drink prices were 4.5% higher than a year earlier, the biggest rise since February 2024. Previously, April brought a particularly sharp jump in inflation to 3.5% from 2.6% due to rises in regulated energy and water tariffs, a spike in air fares, and upward pressure on the cost of labour-intensive services from a rise in employment taxes and the minimum wage. Despite this, Governor Andrew Bailey has said interest rates are likely to remain on a gradual downward path, as a weaker labour market puts downward pressure on wage growth and the outlook for economic growth remains lacklustre.
• The BoE has cut interest rates by four quarter-point steps since August 2024 and economists polled by Reuters last month forecast two more quarter-point rate cuts this year, including a likely move in August 2025. However, some BoE policymakers are concerned that skills mismatches in Britain's labour market and other supply constraints will keep wage growth running too fast for inflation to return to target any time soon.

(Source: Reuters)

• Some top executives at Wall Street banks have been showing concern about higher inflation and potential deterioration of the U.S. economy as tariffs take effect, noting there has been more cautious behaviour from corporate clients. "We have seen pauses in capex and hiring amongst our client base," Citigroup's Jane Fraser told analysts on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. "All of that said, the strength of the U.S. economy, driven by the American entrepreneur and a healthy consumer, has certainly been exceeding expectations of late."
• Citigroup expects consumer spending to cool in the second half if a spike in prices occurs. In addition, Wells Fargo CEO, Charles Scharf, said he has met with some commercial banking clients and described how they are navigating the new environment. "Many have found ways to avoid passing the 10% tariffs on to their customers," Scharf said." At the same time, they are preparing for the downside and are not growing inventories or hiring aggressively and developing contingency plans if the downside scenario occurs", he told analysts.
• Following "Liberation Day," global brokerages saw a greater chance of a recession this year, with JPMorgan calculating a 60% probability. Major firms later trimmed their gloomy outlook. JPMorgan sees the recession probability now at 40%. However, many executives said their main concern is how consumers will react if goods prices surge because of tariffs.
• Goldman Sachs CEO, David Solomon, highlighted the amount of uncertainty going ahead. "Geopolitical concerns have intensified in many regions, but notably in the Middle East, a number of trade agreements have yet to materialise, and that the ultimate impact on growth from higher tariffs is yet unknown," he told analysts on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. Overall, top executives said they expect the dealmaking pipeline to pick up in the second half of the year, as business owners get more comfortable with the new tariff environment.

(Source: Reuters)

• After inching up in May 2025, local consumer prices for June 2025 declined by 0.3% relative to May 2025, while 12-month point-to-point (P2P) growth relative to June 2024 moderated to 3.8%, according to newly released data from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN).
• The monthly decline was primarily driven by a 1.5% decrease in the cost of ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ , amid lower electricity rates and tax on residential electricity charges. Additionally, a 1% drop in cost of ‘Water Supply and Miscellaneous Services Relating to the Dwelling’ also contributed.
• There was a 0.3% fall in the price of ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’, mainly attributable to a 4.9% fall in ‘Fruits and nuts’ prices and a 0.8% decrease in ‘Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses’ prices.
• However, a 1.4% increase in the ‘Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance’ partially countered the declines. This was largely due to an increase of approximately 6.7% in the National Minimum Wage, effective June 1, 2025, which contributed to a 1.8% increase in the price of ‘Goods and Services for Routine Household Maintenance’.
• With the June price decline, P2P inflation cooled from 5.2% for May 2025 to 3.8% for June 2025, the lowest it’s been since April 2021. The outturn was influenced mainly by ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ (+4.7%), ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’(+4.6%), and ‘Restaurant and Accommodation Services’ (+6.1%).
• Prior to the latest CPI reading, Fitch Solutions forecasted that the BOJ would lower the policy rate by 75bps to 5.00% by December 2025, supported by broadly stable price pressures and inflation expectations. However, Fitch noted that while favourable domestic macro indicators point to additional rate cuts in the near term, ongoing uncertainty in global trade and interest rate policy, as well as recent spikes in geopolitical tensions, would prompt the BOJ to hold rates in August at its next meeting. Given the significant decline in P2P in June, however, there could be heightened expectations for an August rate cut.

(Sources: STATIN, BOJ, & BMI, a Fitch Solutions Company)

• Data from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica’s (STATIN’s) Labour Force Survey (LFS) revealed the unemployment rate stood at 3.3% in April 2025. The 3.3% rate marks a decline from 4.2% in April 2024.
• The total number of unemployed individuals amounted to 50,000, down from 62,800 in April 2024. Male unemployment was 2.5%, down from 3.3%, while females’ unemployment was 4.3%, down from 5.3% in April 2024. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed youth (persons aged 14-24) decreased by 9,800 to 19,600, representing a 33.3% total reduction.
• The labour force, consisting of 1,494,400 people as of April 2025, increased by 11,300 since April 2024. However, the total participation rate decreased marginally from 69.3%, down 0.5 percentage points compared to April 2024.
• Despite the decline in participation rate over 12 months, employment levels rose across most categories. The Employed Labour Force totalled 1,444,500 individuals, reflecting an increase of 24,200 persons (+1.7%) compared to April 2024. The number of employed males increased by 7,300 (+1.0%) to 769,500, while the number of employed females grew by 16,800 individuals (+2.6%) to 674,900.
• This growth was led by the occupation group ‘Services and Sales Worker’, reflecting an increase in employment of 21,200 persons (6.5%), while the ‘Professionals’ was the occupation group with the second highest increase of 7,000 individuals (5.7%).

(Source: STATIN)

• The Trump administration announced on Monday a duty of about 17% on fresh tomatoes from Mexico, which account for two-thirds of the tomatoes eaten in the U.S., and the end of an export deal between the two countries.
• The Commerce Department said the U.S. was withdrawing from a 2019 agreement with Mexico that suspended an antidumping duty investigation on Mexican tomatoes, whose exports to the U.S. are valued at $3 billion a year.
• The move came as President Donald Trump's administration seeks to negotiate comprehensive trade agreements with virtually every trading partner after the president launched a dizzying series of tariff announcements in April. The U.S. and Mexico first struck an agreement in 1996 to regulate Mexican tomato exports and address U.S. complaints of unfair competition. The pact was last renewed six years ago to avert an antidumping investigation and end a tariff dispute.
• Mexico said in April it was confident that it could renew the tomato agreement when Washington said it intended to withdraw from the deal. The 17.09% antidumping duty is set at the percentage by which exported Mexican tomatoes have been unfairly underpriced in the United States, it said.
• S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated that for too long, farmers have suffered due to unfair trade practices that undercut the prices of produce such as tomatoes. Mexico's ministries of economy and agriculture said in a joint statement that the U.S. decision was "unfair" and against the interests of Mexican producers and the U.S. industry.
• Mexican tomato growers had offered proposals that were positive for the U.S., but were rejected for "political reasons," the statement added. A group of five Mexican agriculture associations, including from Baja California and Sinaloa states, said they were committed to working with the Mexican government to find solutions.

(Source: Reuters)