CHICAGO (AFP) ― U.S. auto sales clocked their fastest pace in nearly seven years as holiday deals boosted already strong demand, industry data showed Tuesday. The auto industry has been steadily climbing out of a deep and painful downturn after the 2008 financial crisis sent sales spiraling to levels not seen in decades. Improved consumer confidence, economic growth and the need to replace ageing vehicles has fueled growth which accelerated this year.  But the promotions offered in Thanksgiving

China’s yuan overtook the euro to become the second most used currency in global trade finance after the dollar this year, according to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. The currency had an 8.66 percent share of letters of credit and collections in October, compared with 6.64 percent for the euro, Swift said in a statement Tuesday. China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany and Australia were the top users of yuan in trade finance, according to the Belgium-based financia

European Union countries approved a deal with China to curb imports of Chinese solar panels, bringing to an end the EU’s biggest trade dispute of its kind. EU governments endorsed an agreement struck by their trade chief and China in July that sets a minimum price and a volume limit on European imports of Chinese solar panels until the end of 2015. Participating Chinese manufacturers will be spared EU tariffs meant to counter alleged below-cost sales, a practice known as dumping, and subsidies.

BALI (AP) ― Top trade officials began talks Tuesday that will either produce an eleventh hour deal that could boost the global economy by $1 trillion or possibly spell the end of the World Trade Organization’s relevance as a forum for negotiations. After more than a decade of inertia in WTO talks, negotiators are close to a slimmed-down deal but there is no finished document for the dozens of trade ministers attending a summit on the Indonesia resort island of Bali to sign. So close to an agreem

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― Apple wants to rein in the pay and power of a monitor hired to watch over the company as punishment for conviction in an e-book price-fixing case.In court paperwork available online Friday, Apple objected to being billed more than $1,000 an hour for the services of former U.S. prosecutor Michael Bromwich.The Northern California-based maker of iPads, iPods, iPhones and Macintosh computers also protested Bromwich‘s intent to question chief executive Tim Cook, lead designer Jo

ATHENS (AP) ― Ratings agency Moody’s late Friday upgraded Greece’s credit rating, citing improved results in the crisis-hit country’s economic adjustment program. The agency announced the two-notch upgrade from “C” to “Caa3” ― still well below investment grade ― in a move seen as a boost for the government that has promised to end a crippling recession and return to international markets next year. The news was announced hours after the government said talks with bailout out creditors had hit sn

JAKARTA (AFP) ― The WTO meets for a crunch summit in Indonesia this week billed as a do-or-die attempt to salvage an elusive deal on global commerce and, with it, the 159-member trade body’s own relevance.New WTO chief Roberto Azevedo will be seeking to defy the odds and push through an agreement that could lead to relaunching the “Doha Round” of talks on slashing world trade barriers.But hopes for success are low after the WTO failed to agree on even a modest deal to put to trade ministers who