Beijing sanctions three American defence companies as Taiwan's new president takes office. China is also launching an anti-dumping investigation into imported EU, US, Japan and Taiwan chemicals amid a growing trade spat. The country's struggling property market gets a government lifeline, but investors remain unconvinced that it will be enough.

France has declared a state of emergency in its overseas territory of New Caledonia. Violence over a planned constitutional reform is threatening its already struggling economy. Plus, Boeing may face the criminal prosecution it had avoided back in 2021, with the US Justice Department accusing the planemaker of violating the terms of the deferred prosecution deal. 

The United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Tuesday her office is concerned with the possibility of seeing Chinese electric cars enter the US market via Mexico. This comes as the Biden administration is looking to shield its auto industry from Chinese competitors as makes its EV transition. Also, Google launches new AI features on its search engine but faces protests over its ties with Israel.

US President Joe Biden has announced a raft of new tariffs on some 18 billion dollars’ worth of Chinese goods, including quadrupling the border tax on electric cars. The White House says the measures are carefully targeted at strategic sectors to protect American companies from unfair trade practices.  Beijing has strongly criticised the move. Plus, a new version of ChatGPT is out ...  and it's more human than ever. And Google is also revamping its search engine with artificial intelligence.