President Donald Trump on Friday signed off on US sanctions against companies building a Russian natural gas pipeline to Germany that Congress fears will give the Kremlin dangerous leverage over European allies. The sanctions, which are opposed by the European Union, were included in a sprawling defense spending bill Trump signed at a ceremony on Joint Base Andrews, an air force installation outside Washington, DC.

The United States and China cooled their trade war on Friday, announcing a “Phase one” agreement that reduces some U.S. tariffs in exchange for what US officials said would be a big jump in Chinese purchases of American farm products and other goods. Beijing has agreed to import at least $200 billion in additional US goods and services over the next two years on top of the amount it purchased in 2017, the top US trade negotiator said here Friday.

The United States, Mexico and Canada signed a deal Tuesday to finalise their new trade agreement, paving the way to ratification after more than two years of arduous negotiations. However, the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump in the US Senate would likely delay Congressional ratification of the agreement until next year, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Global commerce will lose its ultimate umpire Tuesday, leaving countries unable to reach a final resolution of disputes at the World Trade Organization and instead facing what critics call “the law of the jungle." The United States, under a president who favors a go-it-alone approach to economics and diplomacy, appears to prefer it that way. The terms of two of the last three judges on the WTO’s appellate body neared their end at midnight Tuesday. Their departure will deprive the de facto Supreme Court of world trade of its ability to issue rulings, AP reports.

France warned the United States of strong EU retaliation if it imposed tariffs on key French products ranging from sparkling wine to cheese to handbags, in an intensifying row over taxing digital giants that risks spiralling into a new trade war, coming just hours before Trump is due to meet his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the NATO summit in London.

China suspended US warship visits and sanctioned American NGOs on Monday in retaliation for the passage of a bill backing pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. It comes after last week US President Donald Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which requires the president to annually review the city's favourable trade status and threatens to revoke it if the semi-autonomous territory's freedoms are quashed.

The UAE and Egypt will establish a $20bn investment fund, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed announced on Thursday. The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces launched the fund, along with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El Sisi, during Mr El Sisi's two-day visit to the Emirates.

The EU-Singapore trade agreement will enter into force on 21 November after being endorsed last week by the Member States, the EU press service reported. Under the deal, Singapore will remove all remaining tariffs on EU products. The agreement also gives new opportunities for EU services' providers, among others in sectors such as telecommunications, environmental services, engineering, computing and maritime transport.

French President Emmanuel Macron capped his second visit to China, which started in Shanghai on Monday, with a slew of deals worth more than $15bn in total and discussions on trade and the Iranian nuclear issue, with the French leader saying he also raised human rights issues with the Chinese president. Both sides also united on climate after US withdraws from Paris pact, declaring that it was "irreversible".

President Xi Jinping on Tuesday pledged to further open China's economy, declaring the world must "knock down walls" as he opened an annual trade fair in Shanghai. Xi addressed an audience including French President Emmanuel Macron at the import exhibition, staged annually by China to show its willingness to free up its vast domestic markets in the face of criticism that they are too cosseted by Beijing.