Trump announces trade deal with Japan, including 15% tariff

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday stateside announced that he had completed a “massive Deal” with Japan, which involves Japan investing $550 billion into the United States and paying a 15% reciprocal tariff.

Trump added in a post on Truth Social that Japan will open its market for cars, trucks, rice, and certain agricultural products, among other items. Japan’s embattled prime minister Shigeru Ishiba, fresh off a crushing defeat in upper house elections over the weekend, was not in a position of strength to negotiate a favorable trade deal with the U.S., analysts said.

Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, arrived in Washington on Monday for the eighth round of negotiations with the Trump administration, met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for more than two hours on Monday evening and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for about 30 minutes on Tuesday morning, according to the Cabinet Secretariat and NHK.

Reference Sources

1. CNBC-Trump announces ‘massive’ trade deal with Japan with 15% reciprocal tariffs
2. Japan Times - Japan and U.S. reach tariff deal with ‘reciprocal’ rate at 15%
3. Reuters - Trump announces trade deal with Japan, including 15% tariff

Chinese state hackers targeting Microsoft customers 

(Source: Getty Images)

Microsoft has warned that Chinese state-sponsored hackers are actively exploiting critical security Vulnerabilities in users of its popular SharePoint collaboration software to steal sensitive data and deploy malicious code.

Microsoft said it has observed three threat groups targeting internet-facing SharePoint servers using two newly disclosed vulnerabilities that allow attackers to bypass authentication and execute remote code.

The attacks, which began as early as July 7, affect only on-premises SharePoint installations and do not impact the cloud-based SharePoint Online service, the company said in a security bulletin.

The identities of which organizations have been hacked are still not public, but they are increasing and include multiple government agencies around the world.

The flaw in the software, initially classified as a “zero day,” lets hackers gain significant access to the computers of organizations that host SharePoint. 

Security researchers at Google and Microsoft say they have evidence that hackers backed by China are exploiting a Zero-Day bug in Microsoft SharePoint.

Reference Sources

1. cnbc - Microsoft says Chinese hacking groups exploited SharePoint vulnerability in attacks
2. abscbn - Chinese state hackers targeting Microsoft customers
3. nbc - Chinese hackers race to target Microsoft SharePoint vulnerability, tech giants say
4. techcrunch - Google, Microsoft say Chinese hackers are exploiting SharePoint zero-day

NUS Enterprise invests S$150 million to launch VC programme in Asia  

(Source: Reuters)

The National University of Singapore (NUS) has launched the NUS Venture Capital (VC) programme, which will invest S$150M ($116M) in selected venture capital (VC) firms to provide structured support for NUS Tech startups. NUS Enterprise, the University's entrepreneurial arm, will be in charge of the program.

Deep-Tech startups are typically born out of scientific research in fields that have the potential to greatly impact society, like autonomous vehicles, semiconductors, robotics, and pharmaceuticals.

NUS President Tan Eng Chye said the initiative is a "critical enabler" for research-based startups, which face longer development cycles and greater technical risk than traditional startups.

The first two VC partners are Singapore-based Granite Asia and specialist life sciences investor 4Bio Capital, which focuses on advanced Therapeutics.

The other S$100M will be committed to an autonomous investment fund focused on NUS-affiliated startups, with the flexibility to invest alongside selected VC partners.

Reference Sources

1. bussinesstimes - NUS Enterprise invests S$150 million to launch venture capital programme in Asia - The Business Times
2. nikkei - Singapore's top university commits $116m for deep-tech startups

The CommonWealth English daily news digest is a service curated by CommonWealth English team with the help of AI tools.