Donald Trump says Coca-Cola has agreed to use cane sugar in its beverages in the US, after his discussions with the company.

“I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so. I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday.

The president’s home state of Florida is the nation’s top sugarcane producer.

A spokesperson for Coca-Cola said the Atlanta-based company would share details on new offerings soon, and that it appreciated Trump’s enthusiasm for its product.

Coca-Cola produced for the US market is typically sweetened with corn syrup, while the company uses cane sugar in some other countries.

The Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative, named for the social movement aligned with Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, has pushed food companies to alter their formulations to remove ingredients like artificial dyes.

Kennedy has also been critical of the amount of sugar consumed in the American diet and has said that updated dietary guidelines released this summer will advise Americans to eat “whole food”.

A May report by the MAHA Commission, a panel convened by Trump and tasked with identifying the root causes of chronic disease, said substantial consumption of high-fructose corn syrup could play a role in childhood obesity and other conditions.

Medical experts recommend limiting added sugar in diets, but have not identified significant differences between cane sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.

Corn producers concentrated in the US Midwest have long wielded considerable influence over lawmakers in Washington.

“Replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar doesn’t make sense,” said Corn Refiners Association President and CEO John Bode.

“Replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar would cost thousands of American food manufacturing jobs, depress farm income, and boost imports of foreign sugar, all with no nutritional benefit.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Reserve Bank will have a keen eye on fresh data on Australia’s jobs market as its next decision on interest rates draws closer.

Labour force figures for June will be released on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and are tipped to show the unemployment rate remaining at 4.1 per cent for the month.

The predictions come despite a tightening of the jobs market.

The Reserve Bank would continue to closely monitor the jobless rate before its next meeting in August, NAB’s head of Australian economics Gareth Spence said.

“I think the focus for the RBA will be ensuring the labour market remains healthy going forward,” he said.

“The timing of cuts is not super important.

“It’s more about where do they end up.”

In a move that shocked analysts and disappointed mortgage holders, the RBA kept the cash rate steady at 3.85 per cent at its last board meeting on July 8.

Most economists had pencilled in a 25 basis point cut on the back of slowing inflation growth.

The Commonwealth Bank has forecast 20,000 jobs will have been added to the economy during June.

The participation rate is also expected to stay at the previous level of 67 per cent.

The unemployment rate has stayed at 4.1 per cent for the past three consecutive monthly readings.

The most recent figures in May came despite employment falling by 2000 people, according to the bureau’s last figures.

Mr Spence still expected the jobless rate to climb to 4.4 per cent by the end of 2025, but said economic indicators point to the labour market still being in a strong position.

The Reserve Bank said in its latest monetary policy decision that labour market conditions remained tight.

“Measures of labour under-utilisation are at relatively low rates and business surveys and liaison suggest that availability of labour is still a constraint for a range of employers,” the bank said.

“Alternatively, labour market outcomes may prove stronger than expected, given the signal from a range of leading indicators.”

Pandas and bionic ears are on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s agenda as his six-day tour of China reaches its final leg. 

Mr Albanese touched down in Chengdu, in China’s southwest on Wednesday afternoon, where he announced the Sichuan capital would be given hosting rights to an Australian Open wildcard play-off tournament for a second year running.

In the sweltering 37C heat, the prime minister turned down the offer of a hit on centre court, instead hailing the role of sport in boosting people-to-people and cultural links between Australia and China. 

“I know that my dear friend (former professional tennis player) Glenn Busby comes here and coaches and spends a lot of time here each year, and he tells me that China will dominate the sport in the years to come,” he said. 

Chengdu, a provincial hub home to 21 million residents, is best known outside of China as the home of giant pandas. 

Mr Albanese will visit a breeding research centre at the forefront of efforts to save the species from extinction. 

As well as a beloved cultural icon, pandas are a central part of China’s efforts to exert soft power in the world. 

In a meeting with local party secretary Wang Xiaohui, Mr Albanese said pandas “have been such an important feature” of building positive relations between Australia and China. 

He noted the two new pandas who were loaned to Adelaide Zoo in 2024 in the latest example of panda diplomacy.

“I thank this province for our two newest guests who have been so well received,” he said.

But Chengdu has another, arguably more impactful, connection to Australia. 

Cochlear, the Australian hearing device company, bases a manufacturing and research plant in the city, which the prime minister will visit on Thursday. 

More than 50,000 Chinese patients have had hearing loss restored by a Cochlear device, making it one of the company’s largest markets. 

But with a population of 1.4 billion, there is plenty of scope for expansion

“Chengdu is home to inspiring examples of world-leading Australian and Chinese co-operation in science, technology, research and education,” Mr Albanese will say at a medtech luncheon. 

Both governments had a responsibility to invest in research and an opportunity to deepen co-operation in medical manufacturing, he will say.

“This also depends on continuing to break down barriers by supporting the free and fair trade that enables Australian medtech companies to access the market here in China.”

European Union trade chief Maros Sefcovic is heading to Washington DC for tariff talks, an EU spokesperson has told Reuters, adding that he will meet US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

President Donald Trump has threatened a 30 per cent tariff on imports from the EU from August 1, a level the bloc says is unacceptable and would end normal trade between two of the world’s largest markets.

ASML, the world’s biggest supplier of computer chip-making equipment, warned on Wednesday that uncertainty in tariff negotiations is spurring chipmakers in the US to delay finalising investments, clouding its outlook for the full year. 

Its shares sank as much as 7.3 per cent in early trading.

“Trump’s tariffs have only losers,” German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told a press conference, saying the tariffs threaten the US economy at least as much as those of the European countries.

The European Commission, which oversees trade for the EU, has prepared to target 72 billion euros ($A128.6 billion) worth of US goods – from Boeing aircraft and bourbon whiskey to cars – for possible tariffs if trade talks with the US fail.

“Our hand remains extended but we will not go along with everything, possible countermeasures must continue to be prepared,” Klingbeil told a press conference alongside his French counterpart Eric Lombard, saying the two were in full agreement.

The list of possible counter-measures, sent to EU member states and seen by Reuters on Tuesday, pre-dated Trump’s move over the weekend to ramp up pressure on the 27-member bloc and was a response to US duties on cars and car parts and a 10 per cent baseline tariff.

The package also covers chemicals, medical devices, electrical and precision equipment as well as agriculture and food products – a range of fruits and vegetables, along with wine, beer and spirits – valued at 6.35 billion euros.

Shares in European car makers, including Germany’s Volkswagen, were lower after Renault’s profit warning late on Tuesday, which stirred worries about the health of the car industry as it struggles with 25 per cent US import tariffs.

The only acceptable tariff on EU exports to the United States would be zero as the bloc is already facing a detrimental exchange rate, the head of Italy’s business lobby said on Wednesday.

“The real issue is that, to date, not only do we have to consider the burden of tariffs … we must add to that the euro’s appreciation against the (US) dollar,” said Confindustria President Emanuele Orsini.

Slick housing designs costing less than an ice cream are being deployed to get more homes built, but detractors have dubbed the promotion a “thirst trap”.

The “pattern book” of low-rise designs including terraces, townhouses and manor houses could be ticked off for construction in 10 days.

The designs, whipped up by internationally renowned architects as part of a NSW government competition, will be available for $1 for the first six months.

They then rise to $1000, still well below the going rate.

The government estimates the designs would typically cost upwards of $20,000 if commissioned from an architect.

Premier Chris Minns has repeatedly blamed a sluggish planning system for poor progress on nationally agreed housing targets.

NSW has produced six houses per 1000 people each year compared with Victoria’s eight and Queensland’s 10, he said.

“Ask anybody for the last 20 years in NSW how frustrating it has been to get approval for a family home, they’ll all say the same thing, it is impossible,” Mr Minns told reporters on Wednesday.

“We are falling behind when it comes to new development completions, alongside the fact that we are one of the most expensive cities on earth.”

The NSW scheme will have wider availability and lower up-front fees than a Victorian strategy which was limited to a single council area, Mr Minns said.

But acting Opposition Leader Damien Tudehope said the pattern book plans were governed by “glossy brochures”.

“(It’s) almost like a thirst trap,” he told reporters.

“We have scantily clad people as part of the brochure.”

Mr Tudehope questioned the claimed 10-day approval but said councils should tick off all types of housing faster.

The state remains behind its target to build 377,000 new homes by July 2029 under a national housing agreement.

The premier acknowledged in an address to the McKell Institute on Wednesday getting 75,000 homes off the ground each year remains a tall order.

But he didn’t mind the challenge.

“It puts pressure on the government, and therefore pressure on local councils and pressure on developers and the Reserve Bank and everything to really start thinking,” Mr Minns said.

The design plans coincide with the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing an increase in construction starts in the first three months of 2025.

More than 47,000 new home builds commenced in that time, a 17 per cent increase on the same period in 2024.

University of NSW architecture professor Philip Oldfield lauded the “high quality architectural designs” as a step towards expediting approvals.

But he warns governments need to be more ambitious and holistic to overcome “structural and endemic” issues stemming from tax policies and complex regulations.

“Everyone’s looking for a silver bullet rather than actually planning for the future,” he told AAP.

“The cost to build a home and the cost of the land is quite high … so it’s short-sighted to expect the private development model to solve all our problems.”

The NSW government has allocated billions in recent budgets to build and refurbish social housing as well as helping private developers meet pre-sales targets and secure finance to build apartment buildings.

Building designers backed the release of the pattern book but called for more formal involvement in future iterations, saying architects design fewer than five per cent of residences in NSW.

“(Building designers) deliver the vast bulk of housing in NSW … their input is essential,” Building Designers Association of Australia chief executive Chris Knierim said.

UK inflation rose to a near 18-month high in June as food prices surged for the third month running, according to official figures.

Consumer price index inflation rose to 3.6 per cent in June, up from 3.4 per cent in May and the highest since January 2024, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday.

The increase was unexpected, with most economists forecasting inflation to remain unchanged at 3.4 per cent.

Annual food price inflation hit the highest level since February 2024, while transport costs also pushed up the cost of living.

ONS acting chief economist Richard Heys said: “Inflation ticked up in June driven mainly by motor fuel prices which fell only slightly, compared with a much larger decrease at this time last year.

“Food price inflation has increased for the third consecutive month to its highest annual rate since February of last year.

“However, it remains well below the peak seen in early 2023.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said there was “more to do” to help bring inflation down.

“I know working people are still struggling with the cost of living,” she said.

“There is more to do and I’m determined we deliver on our Plan for Change to put more money into people’s pockets.”

Australia needs to bring back a carbon tax and should never have dumped the measure, an economic heavyweight says.

Ex-Treasury secretary Ken Henry, now a leading environmental advocate, derided the Abbott-led coalition government’s decision to repeal the carbon price, which came into effect under Labor prime minister Julia Gillard in 2012.

When AAP asked if the current Labor government should reconsider the measure amid calls for tax reform and greater action to address climate change, the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation chair said the scheme should never have been quashed.

“Why the hell did we ever drop it?” Dr Henry told the National Press Club on Wednesday.

“It still boggles the mind that we had the world’s best carbon policy and then, for purely political reasons, decided that we could afford to do without it.

“Of course we need a carbon tax, but in the meantime, we’ve got something else and we’ve got to make something else work.”

Dr Henry has also urged the federal government to overhaul Australia’s decades-old environment laws.

Labor is currently pursuing a litany of economic goals, including plans to build 1.2 million houses by 2029, boost renewable energy and develop the critical minerals industry.

But it controversially shelved the bulk of its planned overhaul of national environmental laws in the last term of parliament after pushback over so-called “nature positive” reforms.

Dr Henry said Labor should “stop dreaming” about more challenging reforms if it couldn’t even change the outdated environmental provisions.

“To put it bluntly, there is no chance of Australia meeting stated targets for net zero, renewable energy, critical minerals development, housing and transport infrastructure without very high quality national laws,” he said.

Dr Henry said economics had, for the most part, ignored the most important constraints on human choices.

“Our failure to recognise that the laws of nature affect the set of feasible choices available to us is now having a discernible impact on productivity – and things are getting worse with accelerating speed,” he said.

“We need to break the deadlock.”

Reforms to the environment laws would need to ensure federal, state and territory governments could co-operate for a shared purpose, finalise effective national standards and establish an expert, independent decision maker in the form of a national environmental protection agency.

The existing legislation has remained largely unchanged for more than two decades despite a landmark review, released in 2021, finding the act was not fit to address current or future challenges.

Nations such as Australia that risk being entangled in Donald Trump’s trade wars have been urged to band together and ignore the increasingly dour superpower.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers is preparing to sit down with leaders from the world’s biggest economies, when he will call for more collaboration at the same time as the US shifts to a heavy-handed, protectionist approach.

He will fly to Durban in South Africa for a gathering of finance ministers and central bank governors from G20 countries, days before parliament returns for the first time since Labor’s thumping election win in May.

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said while unity statements would be made by nations attending the meeting, countries would still act independently when confronted with the US president’s tariffs.

“While an ideal response by other countries outside of the US would be to ignore America, some countries will relent,” he told AAP.

“When other countries are making deals with the US, it obviously weakens the position of the rest of the world.”

As conflict in the Middle East and Eastern Europe and the threat of tariffs continue to shake global markets, Dr Chalmers said there had never been a more important time to work together, noting the international economic environment would also shape domestic policy.

“We are navigating a world where volatility, uncertainty and unpredictability are now the norm, not the exception,” he said.

“Subdued global growth, extreme uncertainty and fragmentation demands more engagement, more collaboration and more resilience and that’s what guides our strategy.”

Mr Oliver said Australia had taken the right path by refusing to impose retaliatory tariffs and by not entering into a “bad deal” with the US.

He warned Mr Trump’s flagged tariffs on pharmaceuticals, said to be imposed at the end of the month and increase after a year, would have a “horrible impact” on the affected companies.

The US is Australia’s largest pharmaceutical export market, worth about $2.2 billion in sales.

Dr Chalmers has also stressed the importance of free and open markets and will prioritise strengthening ties and bolstering supply chains in his meetings.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also trumpeted the nation’s support for “free and fair trade” during his visit to China, including at a meeting with President Xi Jinping.

While Australia has not yet received a tariff letter from the US president, a baseline 10 per cent levy has been applied on most of its goods and a 50 per cent levy on steel and aluminium.

The federal government has floated using critical minerals as a bargaining chip to try to carve out a tariff exemption and Dr Chalmers confirmed he would discuss the resource with other countries’ leaders at the event.

He is also expected to meet counterparts from Japan, Indonesia, Canada, the UK, South Africa and Germany, many of which will have a higher tariff rate imposed on their goods from August 1.

All of this forms the backdrop to Labor’s second-term economic agenda that includes ambitious goals to boost flagging productivity.

The coalition has signalled a willingness to work with Labor on productivity, but  through cuts to red tape and regulation, Liberal senator Jane Hume said.

Parliament resumes on Tuesday.

After the morning rush of lattes and flat-whites flying out the door, Alan Low likes to settle in with his own coffee and try to balance his cafe’s books.

The exercise could become even trickier after the Reserve Bank of Australia proposed to remove surcharges on EFTPOS, Mastercard and Visa card transactions, which could save consumers $1.2 billion a year.

But the inner-Sydney cafe owner feels small businesses have been left out of the equation.

Every cent counts with a necessary $12,000-$15,000 a year collected through surcharges on the volume of sales Mr Low’s cafe does.

“There’s nothing that is actually cheap for us,” he told AAP.

“There has to be one way that is actually to help us substitute it out

“There’s no way for us to absorb the cost anymore … and the last thing we want is to jack up the prices for customers.”

Lowering the cap on interchange fees – another RBA recommendation – could save the sector $1.2 billion.

The fee is paid by a business to a customer’s card issuer when a transaction occurs.  

But for Mr Low – who rattled off a list of exorbitant expenses ranging from electricity, wages and insurance – the expected changes could have an impact.

Small business owners face the same inflationary pressures that have hit consumers in recent years, he said.

The cafe’s margins have taken a hit as workers come into the city less frequently and residential buildings eat up spaces.

The peak hospitality body also slammed the RBA’s decision, saying it does not go far enough to help small businesses out.

“To put it bluntly, it’s a political fix – not a solution,” Australian Hotels Association chief executive Stephen Ferguson said.

“The RBA policy to ban surcharges just covers up the problem.” 

But RMIT academic Angel Zhong was more upbeat, arguing the changes would overhaul an outdated transaction system and foster competition in payment services.

“Small businesses stand to gain significantly from both the surcharge ban and interchange fee caps,” she said.

“With lower processing costs and simplified pricing, they can focus on serving customers rather than navigating complex payment fees.”

Dr Zhong warned “the transition needs careful monitoring” and it remains to be seen if and when actual savings filter down to businesses and consumers.  

Following news of the proposed changes, three-quarters of more than 3000 customers surveyed by financial comparison site Canstar said the fees should be banned.

A survey of more than 1000 people commissioned by Visa earlier in July reported 85 per cent would prefer surcharges be built into upfront prices rather than charged separately.

The payments provider said reducing interchange fees risked hampering local investment in fraud protection.

“This is a dramatic shift that would have ripple effects far beyond payments,” Visa Oceania manager Alan Machet said.

Retracing the steps of Gough Whitlam atop the Great Wall of China, Anthony Albanese brushed off Chinese concerns about unfair business practices.

The prime minister pitched himself as continuing the work of his famous Labor forebear to “build stability and security in the region” through engagement.  

Just a day earlier, Mr Albanese and Chinese Premier Li Qiang signed a series of agreements to boost business links as US President Donald Trump upends the global trade order.

Australia and China must deepen economic co-operation given increasing trade frictions elsewhere, Mr Li said after a lavish welcome in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. 

“In recent years, co-operation has encountered headwinds,” he said, adding that it was hard to find two countries with more complementary economies than Australia and China.

But despite the positive dialogue and warm welcome the prime minister has received on his six-day visit, he can’t deny the fundamental differences in the relationship. 

China has chafed at Australia’s stringent foreign investment regime on Chinese firms. 

Mr Li said China would protect the rights of foreign businesses and treat them in accordance with the law, in an oblique reference to Australian plans to tear up a Chinese-owned company’s lease of Darwin Port. 

“I trust Australia will treat Chinese enterprise fairly and properly resolve issues regarding market access and investment review,” he told a gathering of Australian and Chinese business leaders.

Mr Albanese said restrictions weren’t targeted at China specifically but were an agnostic effort to protect Australia’s national interests. 

“We have a case-by-case issue when it comes to foreign investment,” he told reporters at the Wall on Wednesday. 

“It is viewed not on the basis of any one country, but on the basis of an objective assessment of our national interest.”

One issue raised by Chinese business leaders was a concern about existing LNG contracts that could be impacted, for instance, if Australia were to unilaterally change the market through a gas reserve. 

“We don’t interfere with those sovereign issues when it comes to gas, whether it be for China, for Japan or for the Republic of Korea,” Mr Albanese said. 

The prime minister next flies out to the southwestern capital of Chengdu, where he will spruik Australia’s sporting ties with China and meet some pandas.