US President Donald Trump ordered meat processing plants to stay open to protect the nation’s food supply even as workers got sick and died. Yet the plants have increasingly been exporting to China while US consumers face shortages, a Reuters analysis of government data showed.

China announced on Tuesday a new list of 79 US products eligible for waivers from retaliatory tariffs imposed at the height of the bilateral trade war, amid continued pressure on Beijing to boost imports from the United States.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday he opposed renegotiating the US-China “Phase 1” trade deal after a Chinese state-run newspaper reported some government advisers in Beijing were urging fresh talks and possibly invalidating the agreement.

Hawkish voices have emerged in China seeking a reevaluation of its Phase 1 trade deal with the United States, with some advisers urging fresh talks, a state-controlled tabloid said, citing sources close to the Chinese government.

France and the Netherlands have joined forces to urge the European Union to enforce environmental and labour standards more forcefully with countries the bloc signs trade deals with, according to a document seen by Reuters.

German exports tumbled by 11.8% in March, their steepest drop since current records began in 1990, as the coronavirus crisis reduced demand for goods from Europe’s biggest economy, the Federal Statistics Office said on Friday.

Chinese and US trade representatives agreed Friday to "create favourable conditions" for the phase one trade deal signed in January, Beijing officials said, despite recent tensions over the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of international tourist arrivals could plunge by 60 to 80% in 2020 owing to the coronavirus, the World Tourism Organization said Thursday, revising its previous forecast sharply lower. Widespread travel restrictions and the closure of airports and national borders to curb the spread of the virus had plunged international tourism into its worst crisis since records began in 1950, the UN body said in a statement.

China's exports saw a shock 3.5% rise in April despite the global impact of the coronavirus pandemic, official figures showed Thursday, partly due to rising medical exports. But analysts warned of weakness ahead as key markets suffer downturns, as well as the brewing threat of a renewed trade war with the United States.

Britain begins post-Brexit trade talks with the United States on Tuesday, with 100 negotiators on each side joining via videoconference, news wires reported. Many in PM Boris Johnson’s Conservative government hope for a free trade agreement with Washington as one of the biggest benefits of leaving the European Union.