Top Stories; China's shipments to U.S. plunge 33% in August as overall exports growth hits a 6-month low
Top Stories — Monday, September 8, 2025
What is trending in the USA today? Here is Breaking News:
- China's shipments to U.S. plunge 33% in August as overall exports growth hits a 6-month low — CNBC
- Uber and Momenta to test autonomous vehicles in Germany in 2026 — TechCrunch
- European markets set to open higher as focus turns on French confidence vote — CNBC
China's shipments to U.S. plunge 33% in August as overall exports growth hits a 6-month low
Source: CNBC • Published: 9/8/2025, 11:36:31 AM
China's exports to the U.S. plunged 33% in August while overall growth slowed to its weakest in six months, weighed down in part by President Donald Trump's crackdown on transshipments and as the impact of frontloading exports wanes.
Imports from the U.S. also dropped 16% from a year ago, customs data showed.
China's overall exports climbed 4.4% in August in U.S. dollar terms from a year earlier, customs data showed Monday, marking their lowest growth since February while missing Reuters-polled economists' estimates for a 5.0% rise.
That growth slowed from the prior two months, in part reflecting the statistical effect of a high base last year when China's exports grew at their fastest pace in nearly one-and-a-half years.
"With the temporary boost from the U.S.-China trade truce fading and the U.S. raising tariffs on shipments rerouted via other countries, exports are likely to come under pressure in the near term," said Zichun Huang, China economist at Capital Economics said in a note.
Huang pointed out that exports were little changed on a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, with the slowdown in the headline figure mainly reflecting last year's high base.
Imports rose 1.3% last month from a year ago, missing Reuters estimates for a 3% growth. Imports rose for a third straight month after returning to growth in June, albeit still muted due to the persistent real estate slump, rising job insecurity, among other things.
China has increasingly relied on alternative markets, particularly Southeast Asia and European Union nations, Africa and Latin America, as U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policy has pressured U.S.-bound shipments.
"Chinese exporters have been pushing for higher market share in other countries due to weak domestic demand in China. This 'going abroad' initiative likely contributed to the resilience of Chinese exports so far this year," said Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.
The country's shipment to the European Union bloc, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Africa surged 10.4%, 22.5% and nearly 26% in August, respectively.
This year through August, China's exports to the U.S. dropped 15.5% from the same period last year, while imports declined 11%. Over that same period, its exports to EU, ASEAN, Africa and Latin America surged 7.7%, 14.6%, 24.6% and nearly 6%, respectively.
Nonetheless, no one country has come close to the U.S. which remains China's largest trading partner on a single-country basis, absorbing $283 billion of Chinese goods this year as of August. Exports to the EU bloc stood at $541 billion over the same period.
Beijing and Washington on Aug. 11 agreed to extend their tariff truce by another 90 days, locking in place U.S. tariffs of around 55% on Chinese imports and 30% Chinese duties on U.S. goods, according to Peterson Institute for International Economist.
But bilateral talks appear to be struggling to reach a breakthrough, with a late-August visit to Washington by top Chinese trade negotiator Li Chenggang yielding little progress.
Trump has threatened a 200% tariff on Chinese goods if Beijing fails to uphold its promise of increasing rare-earth magnet exports to the U.S. China's exports of rare earths in August jumped 22.6% to 5,791.8 metric tons, customs data showed.
Chinese exporters have relied on routing shipments to third countries to sidestep U.S. tariffs — a tactic that is facing the test of tightening U.S. scrutiny over the so-called transshipments, which analysts have warned could weigh on Chinese exports in the coming months.
The U.S. in July announced a 40% tariff on any shipments that Washington determines to be transshipped.
Economists are watching to see if Beijing unveils additional fiscal support in the fourth quarter to spur domestic demand and cushion weakening exports. Policymakers have, however, appeared to prioritize reining in industrial overcapacity over allocating more for the flagship "cash-for-clunker" program aimed at boosting demand.
A slew of local governments across the country have paused their consumer trade-in programs — that subsidize spendings on cars, household appliances and smartphones — due to the rapid depletion of the allocated funds.
Deflationary pressure is likely to persist in the country. Goldman Sachs forecast the wholesale price inflation will remain "deeply negative," with the producer price index falling 2.9% year on year in August.
The month-on-month reading could turn positive, helped by Beijing's "anti-involution" policies aimed at reducing excessive price-cutting and the recent increases in upstream raw material prices, the Wall Street bank predicts.
The headline CPI inflation will remain "moderately negative," falling 0.2% last month from a year ago, Goldman estimates.
Neo Wang, lead China strategist at Evercore ISI, expects the People's Bank of China to cut its policy rate by 10 basis points to 20 basis points next week that'll see a raft of economic data from China.
Beijing is expected to release next Monday figures on retail sales, industrial output, urban investment, home pieces and urban jobless rate for August.
"With those numbers expected to again show signs of subdued growth, Beijing can use a rate cut to counter pessimism and pacify those expecting bad news to trigger good news," Wang said.
— CNBC's Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.
Uber and Momenta to test autonomous vehicles in Germany in 2026
Source: TechCrunch • Published: 9/8/2025, 11:30:00 AM
Uber and Momenta to test autonomous vehicles in Germany in 2026
Ride-hailing giant Uber and Chinese autonomous vehicle startup Momenta plan to start testing robotaxis in Munich, Germany starting in 2026 – the first continental European city either company has announced publicly – with plans to expand to other markets.
The partnership was first unveiled in May 2025, when Uber said Momenta-powered vehicles would launch on its platform in Europe in 2026, initially with human safety operators onboard to monitor the vehicles and take control if needed.
Momenta, founded in 2016, is one of China's earliest autonomous vehicle (AV) companies. The Beijing-based startup has been testing self-driving cars in China since 2018 and is considered a major player in the country's competitive AV market.
Uber's move puts it in direct competition with other ride-hailing companies expanding into Europe's AV market. For example, in August Lyft announced a deal with China's Baidu to deploy robotaxis across Europe starting next year, beginning with Germany and the UK.
Momenta is one of 20 global AV partners that Uber has brought on board across its ride-hailing, delivery, and freight businesses. Uber says those partnerships have already generated an annualized rate of 1.5 million mobility and delivery trips.
In the U.S., Uber offers Waymo's robotaxis on its app in Austin, Atlanta, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Internationally, Uber has partnered with Momenta and other Chinese AV startups, like WeRide and Pony.ai, to roll out robotaxis on the Uber platform in the Middle East. Uber and WeRide currently offer AV rides in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, with plans to expand to Dubai. Uber and UK-based Wayve also recently announced plans to launch public road trials of Level 4 AVs in London.
Uber said in a statement that it chose Munich as its European launchpad due to the city's engineering heritage and strong automotive ecosystem.
"Germany has shaped the global automotive industry for more than a century, and now Munich will help shape the future with autonomous vehicles," said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, in a statement.
TechCrunch has reached out to Uber and Momenta to learn whether they have already begun the certification process in Germany yet. Momenta will need to prove to German regulators that its vehicles meet certain safety standards and have its designed operating areas (called "geo-fenced zones") approved by the authorities.
The launch could be Momenta's first robotaxi deployment in Europe. The company has been operating a service in Shanghai with plans for a commercial rollout with onboard safety operators by the end of this year. As it works to develop its Level 4 capabilities, Momenta has also been working to deploy advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) with partner automakers, including German brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi. Momenta's ADAS is already installed on 400,000 vehicles sold to customers today, according to the company.
Rebecca Bellan is a senior reporter at TechCrunch where she covers the business, policy, and emerging trends shaping artificial intelligence. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and other publications.
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European markets set to open higher as focus turns on French confidence vote
Source: CNBC • Published: 9/8/2025, 11:23:38 AM
LONDON — European stocks are expected to start the new trading week on a positive note, as market focus turns on France's imminent confidence due to take place later in the session.
The U.K.'s FTSE index is expected to open 0.3% higher, Germany's DAX up almost 0.5%, France's CAC 40 and Italy's FTSE MIB both seen 0.3% higher, respectively, according to data from IG.
Investors will be keeping a close eye on France on Monday, as French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou is widely seen losing a confidence vote. Bayrou called for the vote himself after ongoing wrangling with rival political parties over around 44 billion euros ($51.5 billion) worth of budget cuts.
Bayrou's aim was to bring France's budget deficit down to 4.6% in 2026 — a level still well above the European Union's deficit rules — but opposition parties have objected to spending cuts and tax rises in equal measure. If Bayrou is ousted on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron will have to name the country's fifth prime minister in less than two years.
Asia-Pacific markets traded mostly higher Monday, as investors assessed Japan Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's resignation announcement over the weekend and eyed key economic data in the region.
U.S. stock futures were little changed on Sunday, with two critical inflation reports expected this week: the U.S. producer price index report for August is due on Wednesday morning, followed by the consumer price index on Thursday.
The inflation prints will be coming in after weaker-than-expected hiring data on Friday, which helped fuel investor hope that the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to lower benchmark interest rates at its policy meeting later this month.
There are no major European earnings or data releases scheduled on Monday.
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