Business Briefs – August 22, 2019

As Global Economic Picture Dims, Solutions Seem Out of Reach

WASHINGTON (AP) – Factories are slumping, many businesses are paralyzed, global growth is sputtering and the world’s two mightiest economies are in the grip of a dangerous trade war. Barely a year after most of the world’s major countries were enjoying an unusual period of shared prosperity, the global economy may be at risk of returning to the rut it tumbled into after the financial crisis of 2007-2009.

China Warns U.S. tariffs Will ‘Escalate Trade Friction’

BEIJING (AP) – China has appealed to Washington to ‘meet each other halfway’ and settle a tariff war. A government spokesman warned planned U.S. tariff hikes will ‘escalate trade friction.’ The Trump administration has postponed some tariff increases previously planned for Sept. 1 on Chinese imports but others are due to go ahead.

Return of the King: Salmon Rebounds After California Drought

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Pacific Coast fishermen and seafood lovers are toasting the return of wild king salmon. Commercial fishermen in California say this salmon fishing season is one of the best in years. It’s a sharp reversal for chinook, or king, salmon, a species that helps sustain many Pacific Coast fishing communities. The past few years have seen extremely low catches, which resulted from poor ocean conditions and California’s historic drought.

Protesters Skeptical as G7 Claims Anti-Globalization Mantle

PARIS (AP) – The G-7 summit has for the first time co-opted the message of its protesters: Capitalism has led to damaging inequalities and environmental degradation that has harmed the global economy and a handful of rich countries can’t be the only ones making decisions for the world.

Thousands of people camped outside the French coastal resort of Biarritz for G-7 protests are, to say the least, a little skeptical of the new messengers and their motives.

More than 13,000 police are protecting this year’s gathering, which is hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, a former banker, and will include U.S. President Donald Trump and other Group of Seven leaders.