ReNew Energy Global has announced a major investment of ₹220 billion ($2.57 billion) to develop a large-scale hybrid renewable energy project in the eastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The project will combine 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity with 1 GW of wind capacity, totaling 2.8 GW. It will be capable of delivering power during peak demand for up to four hours daily, marking a significant addition to India’s clean energy infrastructure.

This move reinforces ReNew Energy’s position as one of the country’s top renewable energy developers, second only to Adani Green. The company already operates projects across ten Indian states and boasts a global portfolio of 17.4 GW as of mid-February 2025.

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD has announced plans to establish a major European center in Hungary, further deepening the country’s role as a key node in China’s industrial presence on the continent. Speaking at a press conference alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Budapest, BYD CEO and President Wang Chuanfu said the facility would create 2,000 jobs and serve three core functions: a hub for sales and after-sales services, a testing site, and a center for developing localized versions of BYD’s EV models.

This announcement comes as BYD ramps up its European expansion strategy, building on its existing footprint in Hungary. The company opened its first European plant, focused on assembling electric buses, in the northwestern Hungarian city of Komárom in 2016. A second plant, currently under construction, will manufacture passenger electric vehicles, signaling a long-term commitment to local production in the EU.

At a tense but ultimately conciliatory gathering on South Korea’s Jeju Island, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group adopted a joint statement on Friday acknowledging “fundamental challenges” to the global trading system, while steering clear of directly addressing the sweeping U.S. tariffs that now affect more than half its 21 member economies.

This year’s APEC meeting was the first major multilateral trade forum to convene since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sweeping reciprocal tariffs that include duties of more than 10% on a range of imports from key trading partners. While the tariffs loomed large over the gathering, the joint statement made no mention of a coordinated response, reflecting divisions among APEC members over how to navigate the increasingly protectionist tilt of U.S. trade policy.

In a clear sign of how businesses have scrambled to stay ahead of rapidly shifting U.S. trade policies, the European Union’s exports to the United States soared to record levels in March—just weeks before President Donald Trump launched his sweeping global tariff campaign.

According to Eurostat data released Friday, the EU exported €71.4 billion ($80 billion) worth of goods to the U.S. that month, a 59% surge from the same period last year. The resulting trade surplus hit an unprecedented €40.7 billion, the highest ever recorded in transatlantic trade.

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has announced plans to begin construction of a $4 billion aluminum smelter in Oklahoma by late 2026, aiming for completion by 2030. The plant, which will have an annual capacity of 600,000 tons of primary aluminum, represents the latest example of the sweeping investment wave encouraged by U.S. President Donald Trump during his four-day tour of the Middle East.

The announcement came as Trump unveiled $200 billion in U.S.-UAE commercial deals, building on earlier pledges from Saudi Arabia and Qatar to ramp up investment in U.S. energy, infrastructure, and technology sectors as a hedge against escalating tariff threats.

China’s leading solar companies are accelerating their expansion into emerging overseas markets during the 90-day tariff truce with the United States, seeing the pause as an opportunity to strengthen their global positioning.

Executives from top firms such as Jinko Solar, CSI Solar (an affiliate of Canadian Solar), and Tongwei Co. say the temporary de-escalation provides a measure of trade stability but does little to alter the long-standing reality that direct exports from China to the U.S. remain minimal due to years of punitive duties.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent four-day visit to the Middle East has culminated in an extraordinary slate of commercial agreements worth well over $300 billion, marking a renewed push to cement U.S. economic and strategic influence across the Gulf.

The deals span aviation, AI, energy, defense, infrastructure, and financial markets, and represent a defining moment in the post-globalization reordering of investment alliances between Washington and the resource-rich monarchies of the Gulf.

The U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector is entering a bold new phase of growth, with more than 90 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of new export capacity expected to receive final investment decisions (FIDs) in 2025 — even amid heightened uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump’s trade war and its impact on construction costs.

The U.S., already the world’s largest LNG exporter with 91.3 MTPA of capacity, is on track to triple its output before 2030. An additional 95.7 MTPA of capacity is already under construction. This pipeline of growth reflects confidence in long-term demand for U.S. gas globally, even as tariffs on steel, aluminum and other inputs threaten to drive up construction costs for new plants.