China is building a very 21st century empire — one where trade and debt lead the way, not armadas and boots on the ground.

U.S. manufacturing activity slowed in July amid signs that a robust economy and import tariffs were putting pressure on the supply chain, which could hurt production in the long term.

Vans, the 52-year-old brand best known for its unassuming slip-on sneaker, is on a tear. Vans' annual revenue topped $3bn last year, up nearly tenfold from a decade earlier, propelled in part by cheap and plentiful manufacturing in Asia.

The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it would provide up to $12bn in emergency relief for farmers hurt by the president’s trade war, moving to blunt the financial damage to American agriculture and the political fallout for Republicans as the consequences of President Trump’s protectionist policies roll through the economy.

There has been more talk in recent years about how blockchain technology can change the world than actual projects showing what it can do.

U.S. industrial conglomerate Honeywell International Inc said on Friday it had started sourcing some of its components from countries other than China to counter growing costs related to a tariff war between the world’s two largest economies.

Cargo streamed into U.S. seaports at a rapid rate in June, as businesses pulled in goods in an apparent rush to stock up ahead of new tit-for-tat tariffs between the U.S. and China.