Wealthion Macro Bites 5-15

Written by The Wealthion Team | May 15, 2026 12:22:26 PM

While details about specific agreements have been sparse, the two-day meeting between President Trump and President Xi seems to have strengthened the fragile Oct. ’25 trade agreement, and Xi’s plans to visit Washington on Sept. 24 gives the leaders another chance to talk in person before the one-year truce expires. Xi did warn Trump that U.S. “mishandling” Taiwan would put the U.S.-China relationship in “great jeopardy,” while Trump claimed China agreed to buy U.S. oil and help with Iran negotiations. China has yet to confirm plans to buy U.S. oil and Washington has yet to comment on Taiwan.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang were among a dozen U.S. business leaders accompanying Trump on his visit and meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Thursday. Out of these meetings, China will order 200 Boeing jets and Nvidia got the green light from the U.S. to sell its H200 chips to major Chinese companies.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued his crusade to limit Indian gold imports on Thursday as the Commerce Ministry tightened rules permitting duty-free gold imports for jewelry exports ($11.4B in fiscal ‘25/’26 fiscal yr. ended Mar.). Previously, jewelry manufacturers could import unlimited gold duty-free if used for manufacturing jewelry exports. After increasing the import duty from 6% to 15% earlier this week, New Delhi has now capped “advance authorization” import licenses to 100kg per license and linked future licenses to fulfillment of at least 50% of prior export obligations. License holders must now submit audited fortnightly reports (detailing gold imports and exports) and face mandatory facility inspections.

Zambia’s Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Chipoka Mulenga announced on Thursday that the government has authorized Chambishi Copper Smelter and Mopani Copper Mines to resume sulfuric acid shipments to the DRC. Zambian copper smelters generate 2Mt of sulfuric acid annually, and Zambia had banned sulfuric acid exports in Sept. ’25 (followed by a permit policy in Mar. ’26) after weak domestic output and global disruptions linked to the Iran war tightened the supply of the leaching chemical.

As part of Argentina’s Incentive Regime for Large Investments program (RIGI), President Javier Milei’s government approved a joint venture between China’s Ganfeng Lithium Group, Lithium Argentina (which has U.S. listed shares) and state-owned JEMSE to invest $1.24B in expansion of Ganfeng’s lithium mine in the province of Jujuy. The Argentine government also approved the $891M PSJ Cobre Mendocino (prev. known as San Jorge) project, the first large metal mine in the winemaking province of Mendoza.

Global bond markets continue their selloff on Friday over intensifying fears over war-driven inflation and subsequent central bank rate hikes. European bonds trade sharply lower across the board, with yields surging 16bps in U.K. and 10bps in France, Italy & Greece. 10-year Treasury yield +5.4bps (4.535%) and 30-year yield +6.1bps (5.089%). DXY dollar index +0.3%, spot gold -2.1% and spot silver -6.0%. Brent futures +2.4% ($108.25) and WTI futures +2.8% ($104.03).

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