U.K. Snap Election, Trump’s 2020 Threat, U.S. Factories: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Wednesday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:

• Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the U.K. on course for a snap general election after suffering a humiliating defeat for his Brexit strategy in Parliament
• President Donald Trump sought to prod China into doing a trade deal before the U.S. presidential election in November 2020, or face even more difficult negotiations
• Meantime, economists are downgrading their forecasts for economic growth in China again, to below a level necessary for the Communist Party to meet its own goals in time for its centenary in 2021
• A key U.S. factory gauge unexpectedly contracted for the first time since 2016. Carl Riccadonna looks at the fallout
• French central bank Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau signaled skepticism over the need for renewed asset purchases by the ECB
• A decade on, has low interest-rates panacea turned poison? Carl Riccadonna and Yelena Shulyatyeva sift the evidence
• Boston Fed chief Eric Rosengren said the U.S. economy remains “relatively strong” despite clearly heightened risks, leaving him unconvinced on the need for an interest-rate cut. Here’s a summary of recent remarks by Fed policy makers
• Indonesia plans to cut tax on corporates and scrap a levy on dividends to help attract foreign investment
• The Bank of Canada is expected to open the door further to rate cuts at a decision Wednesday, amid worries U.S.-China tensions will curb a relatively robust expansion
• Venezuela Socialist Party Vice President Diosdado Cabello called former Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh “an example,” at a ceremony in Caracas commemorating the 50th anniversary of his death

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net, Chris Bourke

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