From a remote corner of northeastern Myanmar, an insurgent army sells tin ore to suppliers of some of the world's largest consumer companies. More than 500 companies, including leading brands such as smartphone maker Apple, coffee giant Starbucks and luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co, list among their suppliers Chinese-controlled firms that indirectly buy ore from the Man Maw mine near Myanmar's border with China, a Reuters examination of the supply chain found.

U.S. durable goods orders rebounded strongly in October, surging past expectations amid increased demand for aircraft and other transportation machinery. The Commerce Department said orders for items meant to last three years increased $11bn, or 4.8 percent, to $239.4bn last month, following a downwardly revised 0.4 percent drop in September. Economists had predicted a 1.7 percent gain.

The Stifel Logistics Confidence Index - which measure logistics industry outlook - has reached its 14 consecutive months of negative confidence, with the numbers suggesting this will continue into 2017. As reflected by the performance of the Index, global trade remains at a low ebb, as it has for some time.

Even before Donald Trump enters the White House and formally abandons a U.S.-led trade deal that represented a cornerstone of his country's economic policy in Asia, Chinese President Xi Jinping will get a chance to prove his willingness to step into the leadership vacuum.

Michael Ducker, president and CEO of FedEx Freight, has joined a chorus of logistics and transportation interests calling for President-elect Donald Trump to honor America's commitment to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and bolster extant trade ties. "Trade agreements are the solution, not the problem," Ducker told the 2016 JOC Inland Distribution Conference, adding that his company was "100 percent committed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership."

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to further open the world's second-largest economy on Saturday, as leaders of Asia-Pacific countries gathered in Peru to find new free-trade options after Donald Trump was elected U.S. president on a protectionist platform.

From avocado orchards to border factories, Mexican exporters who have prospered under two decades of NAFTA face the prospect of an abrupt end to the boom if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump carries out his threats to ditch the free trade pact.